Monster Life
by Toby Danger
Summary: It's been ten years since Frankie and her friends graduated from Monster High. And if they thought their un-lives were freaky fab and crazy before, their days as adult monsters will be a entirely new adventure. Chapter 3: Draculaura and Clawdeen investigate Frankie's recent absences, and discover she has been keeping a secret which will change their lives forever.
1. The Reunion

Monster Life

By Toby Danger

_Monster High is copyright of Mattel. All other characters mentioned are copyright of their original creators_

* * *

Chapter 1: Reunion

Frankie peered through the small window into the examination room, where the small girl was sitting on a metal table. She was hunched over, arms crossed over her lap, and despite the presence of her mother beside her, she looked terribly alone and afraid. She couldn't really blame her, the bare walls of the hospital's exam rooms weren't the most inviting places to be in, especially when you were injured.

She put on her friendliest smile and entered the room. It was time to cheer this kid up.

"Hello there! You must be Monet, right?"

The little girl glanced up at her and nodded.

Frankie knelt down so her face was level with Monet's. "Well, I'm Doctor Stein. But you can call me Frankie. I'm here to make sure your injuries aren't too bad, so you can get back out and about."

The girl shivered slightly, her green eyes downcast. Sensing her worry, Frankie held out her hands.

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad. I'm just going to check to make sure nothing is seriously sore or broken. I'll be really gentle, I promise. And your mom's here, so if I do something wrong she'll tell me off."

Monet glanced up at her mother, who squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. Finally she gave Frankie a small smile and a nod.

"Okay then." Frankie smiled back. "Monet, could you please raise your arms in front of you?"

The girl did as she asked, holding her arms in front of her.

"Great. And could you do the same with your other arms?"

Another set of arms, attached to her body directly below her upper arms, were raised in the same manner. This time, Frankie noticed the slight grimace on her face.

"Does one of those arms hurt?"

Monet nodded and pointed at her lower right arm.

"Okay... I need to touch it to know where exactly it hurts, okay?"

Very gently, Frankie held Monet's arm and began to examine it, carefully pressing with her fingers to find anything wrong.

"So... your mother says you were playing in your garden when this happened." She spoke as she continued. "Were you doing something fun?"

Monet seemed uneasy about Frankie's examination, after a moment, she spoke. "I was climbing the tree in our garden. Papa said I wasn't supposed to, but I thought I would be alright." She shrugged. "I wasn't going to climb all the way up.."

She glanced at Frankie's arms, studying her seams. "Did you fall over too?"

"Oh no. I'm just stitched together, that's all. I need these or else I fall apart. And the bits of me start to misbehave.."

Frankie undid the stitches on her wrist and removed her hand, placing it on the table next to the little girl. Monet watched with amazement as, by Frankie's mental command, the hand suddenly hopped up and stood on it's fingertips. It began to dance on the table, performing a little jig with its fingers. Monet giggled with glee as she watched the performance, distracted enough so Frankie could finish her examination.

Finally, she reattached her hand so she could wrap a splint and bandage around Monet's arm. Satisfied that she seemed happy and comfortable with the dressing, Frankie allowed her mother to pick her up and hug her, before leading the two out into the hallway.

Monet's father Mr Francouer was waiting for them, and he cut quite a contrast against his wife and daughter. While they looked human, save for Monet's extra arms, her father was essentially a large humanoid flea in a suit, with four skinny, hairy arms and a smooth face with large green eyes and mandibles next to his mouth. That mouth was currently curled into a smile of relief as he approached his family.

"Ah, my petit, I'm so glad you're alright." He ruffled his daughter's hair. "How is she, doctor?"

"Monet will be fine." Frankie replied. "Luckily, nothing was broken, she just suffered a mild sprain. She'll need to move her arm as little as possible to give it time to heal, but that should only take a couple of days."

She looked at Monet directly. "In the meantime, it's important that you take it easy, and don't do anything to hurt your arm again, ok?"

"Ah oui." Francouer nodded. "No more climbing trees for a while, young lady."

"That's okay Papa." Monet smiled. "We can always play music together instead."

The flea-man laughed happily, before facing Frankie. "I cannot thank you enough Doctor."

"There's no need to sir, I was happy to help." Frankie assured. "You guys are good to go home now, but if anything else comes up just give me a call."

They shook hands, and the family headed towards the exit. Monet waved back at her with both her left arms. "Thank you Frankie!"

Frankie waved back, a warm smile on her face. Even though she'd been working at Salem General Hospital for almost three years now, she never tired of the joyous feeling of seeing her patients going home in good health.

"Another happy customer, eh doc?" A voice with a rough Brooklyn accent spoke beside her. Frankie turned to see one of the newer nurses, a young gorgon named Duzer following her gaze.

"That's the idea. It's lucky that her injuries weren't worse though. A majority of monsters with insect genetics tend to suffer from weak bones, even if they're hybrids like she is."

She rolled her shoulders, stiff from fatigue. "Anyway, I'm about to clock off. Is there anything that needs to be taken care off?"

Duzer checked a clipboard. "Nah, we're all good Doc. I gave Mr Goatgruff his antibiotics a while ago, he's reacting to them well, and Mrs Creeper just had her dressings changed. I reckon it's gonna be a quiet night."

"Well, that's good." Frankie pulled off her white coat. "Because I really need to have this night off."

"Ooh, got a hot date?" Duzer inquired, grinning.

"Not quite. I'm going to my high school's Ten year class reunion."

"Really? Doesn't sound like much fun."

Frankie looked at the nurse incredulously. "Are you kidding? I've been charged up for this all week. Meeting all my old friends, learning what's happened to them since graduation... I've not seen many of them for years."

"Well, I hope you have fun, Doc." Duzer shrugged. "My high school reunion sucked. All the boys I had crushes on were either married or had become total douchebags, not to mention all the people shoving all their success in my face."

Frankie looked worried for a moment, but smiled again. "Well, I'm sure it'll be fun. If I know my friends, they're as eager to catch up with everyone as I am. I just hope I get to see them all..."

With that Frankie folded up her jacket, bade Duzer goodbye, and started walking to the staff locker room. She had only a couple of hours before she had to go to Monster High, where the reunion was being held. Enough time to squeeze into her little black dress, put on some makeup and generally look fabulous. There was a skip in her step as she headed up the corridor.

* * *

_Illonka pulled herself up through the skylight, the blustering snow pelting her face. It was times like this that she was grateful she was undead, and thus couldn't feel the cold._  
_A thick coating of snow blanketed the roof of the opera house, but this didn't let this impede her from walking to the air conditioner. Sure enough, the backpack was there, just as her handler had told her. Now all she had to do was get off this roof and get out of the city..._

_"Illonka!" His rich voice cut through the cold air, stopping her in her tracks. She turned to see him standing by the skylight, a terrified look on his handsome face._

_"Tristian.." She murmured, guilt welling up in her. It was bad enough she had to lie to him, but now she had possibly dragged him into her mess as well._

_"Illonka, what's going on? Why were those men chasing you?" He moved closer to her. "Please, tell me!"_

_She avoided looking into his eyes. "I'm sorry darling... but I have to go."_

_"Go? Go where?! Please, tell me what's going on!"_

_She wrapped her arms around him and pressed herself to his chest. "I want to explain... there's so much I want to tell you. But not now. There are hundreds of lives at stake... including yours."_

_She looked at him with pleading eyes. "I will explain everything.. in due time. But for now, you have to hide. These men will kill you if they think you're involved. I'll contact you when I get the chance. Until then..."_

_She leaned in and gave him the most passionate kiss she could muster, as if it were the last time she would ever kiss him. For all she knew, it very well could be._  
_"... please wait for me."_

_She pulled away from him and strapped on the backpack. He watched, stunned and alarmed, as she broke into a run toward the end of the roof. Tristian called out for her to stop, but instead she leaped off the edge. _

_She yanked at a hidden cord, and the backpack split apart, revealing a set of metallic wings with a compact jet engine attached. The engine roared to life, and she flew off into the night sky, grey exhaust in her wake..._

Laura stared at the screen, studying what she just written. It had sounded good in her head, but the image of her elegant vampire character escaping via a jetpack suddenly seemed a little silly.

"Clawd? Do jetpacks actually exist? I mean, could you actually buy one?"

Clawd walked out of the adjoining bathroom, buttoning up his shirt. "I think so. I saw one on TV once, but I don't think you could just go out and buy one from a store."

He glanced over his wife's shoulder to read her text. "I'm pretty sure you can't get one that fits in a backpack though. The real life ones are pretty big."

"I thought so.." She sighed. "This is stupid. A proper spy wouldn't use a jetpack. She'd climb down the side of the building or something... no, that wouldn't work either! Everyone in the skyscraper would see her."

"It's a spy story, babe. I don't think everyone's expecting realism."

"But a lot of spy stuff is realistic these days. Remember that normie movie we rented, Quantum of something...?"

She threw up her hands. "Auugh.. why did I agree to do this story? This spy stuff is totally out of my league!"

Clawd wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Because you wanted a challenge, and your publisher wanted something a little different. And I thought a story about a sexy vampire spy was pretty cool..."

"Yeah, I'm sure you did.." Laura smirked.

Clawd planted a small kiss on her cheek. "You're gonna be fine. The stuff you've written so far is great, and the publisher is gonna love the final draft."

He pulled back and grabbed his suit jacket. "But we'd better put Illonka's adventures on hold. We need to head out if we're gonna get to Monster High in time."

"It's that time already?!" Laura jumped as she checked her watch. She got up and smoothed out her dress. "Give me a moment to touch up!"

She rushed to the bathroom to apply some makeup, not letting her lack of reflection in the mirror slow her down. "Ooh, I can't wait to see everyone again! We have got so much to catch up on.. and our little announcement."

She poked her head out the door and stared at Clawd. "You haven't told anyone, have you? You haven't said it by accident?"

"Relax honey." Clawd smiled back. "The only ones who know about this are you and me."

"Great.." Laura sighed. "I really want to surprise the ghouls, and I definitely don't want Spectra blogging about it to the whole town."

She got excited again as she grabbed a fur shawl to wrap around her shoulders. "I wonder how they're going to react?"

"Can't be any worse than how our parents reacted." Clawd replied, taking her arm in his.

"Dad wasn't that upset." Laura recalled. "Heck, most of the night he was really happy."

"Yeah sure, when he wasn't glaring at me and willing for my head to explode." Clawd shivered slightly, memories of Dracula's disconcerting stare playing in his mind.

Laura giggled and snuggled up to him as they walked out of the room. "Well, this night will be more fun, I'm sure.."

* * *

In the back room of a small boutique known as House of Fierce, Clawdeen was focused intently on her sewing machine, stitching together two pieces of fabric as quick as she could without making the seam look messy. She had very nearly reached the end of the seam when the smart phone resting on her design table vibrated. Exhaling a huff of irritation, Clawdeen answered the phone, frowning when she realized who it was.

"Hello again Mr Pyg... yes, everything's ready for the hearing tomorrow... what?" Her eyes widened as she listened to her client's suggestion.

"No Mr Pyg, we can not sue Mr Bigbad for blowing down your brother's houses... Why? Because it wasn't his fault... I'm not being biased because we're both werewolves!"

She fought to keep her voice calm and controlled. "It's a simple fact of physics. Your brothers built their houses with cheap materials and incompetent contractors, that's why they fell down. And as tough as Bigbad is, not even he can physically knock a house down by blowing at it. Trust me, I got several little brothers who have tried it and failed."

She rolled her eyes as Mr Pyg continued his rant. "Yes... okay... don't worry, I promise we'll get everyone a fair settlement... I gotta go now.. see you tomorrow."

She hung up and slammed the phone to the table, a low growl of annoyance rumbling in her throat. Thanks to the call, she wouldn't be able to finish the dress before she had to leave for the reunion. It was times like this that she wondered what lunacy possessed her to practice law in the first place. Surely there were less aggravating ways to supplement her boutique's income. Like trash collecting, or working as Cleo's assistant.

"You alright, love?" A rough, Northern English voice called from nearby the door. Clawdeen spun around, a smile gracing her face as she saw her lover entering the room.

Vincent Eastly was a tricky monster to categorize. He resembled a werewolf, in that he had dog like ears and sharp teeth. But his body wasn't covered in downy fur like her and her siblings, instead he had several thick patches of bushy hair on his arms, legs and chest, while the rest of his pale skin was smooth. He also had some non werewolf traits, like a pair of curved horns that protruded from beneath his bushy dark hair, two tusk-like teeth set in his lower jaw, and a slim tail which resembled the tail of an ox or cow.

Clawdeen suspected that maybe he was some kind of werewolf hybrid, but Vince had never elaborated on his heritage, and Clawdeen had decided not to ask, sensing it might make him uncomfortable.  
It didn't matter anyway. He might have looked odd, and he was a little chunky around the middle, but Clawdeen adored him for everything beyond that. A fellow lawyer working for the only law firm in Salem, he was sweet, remarkably witty, treated everyone with respect, and a passionate lover. And he looked pretty sharp in a suit, too.

She moved over and embraced him, sighing deeply. "Yeah, just frazzled. I got to get all the Spring Line outfits done by the end of the week, and Mr Pyg's case has really been a pain in the ass."

"Uhh, not that fat bastard again." Vince sighed. "I don't know why you took his case, that Bigbad fella's got the right idea about wanting to kick him out."

"Hey, he's pays well. And he might be a jerk, but he's got a right to build his home on the land he bought from Bigbad." Clawdeen replied. "Still, I'll be glad when we finally get this resolved so I don't have to put up with him anymore."

Vince kissed her forehead. "Well, let's forget about him. We have to get to this reunion of yours, right?"

"Sure do." Clawdeen stepped back to grab her purse. "Are you sure you really want to come, though? I mean, it's mainly gonna be me chatting with all my old friends. I don't want to leave you alone."

"Ah, I'll be alright. I got nothing better to do, and you never know, I might meet a new client." Vince shrugged. "Besides, I'm curious to meet all these friends you keep going on about. Is it really true you and your mates saved the school from being destroyed?"

"A couple of times..." Clawdeen chuckled as she looped her arm around his. "I'll tell you on the way there..."

* * *

The penthouse office was large, but sparsely furnished. A couple of couches, a large set of storage drawers, and some large pieces of Egyptian artwork displayed on pedestals. It all served to direct attention to the massive, gold plated desk in the center of the room, where the editor and owner of _Eternal Ghoul_ magazine presided over the production of her latest issue.

At the moment she was looking through the final page drafts, scrutinizing every article and picture for anything out of place.  
So far, everything pleased her. The latest fashion reports, Spectra Vondergeist's gossip column, a showcase of the best getaway spots in Scaris, an article on preventing sexual harassment in the workplace...

It was when she got to the health and beauty pages that Cleo's elegant eyebrows were raised in surprise.

"Tanis!" She called out for her loyal assistant. "You have a boyfriend, right?"

Tanis, a young mummified woman with linen bandages partially wrapped around her face and body, and weaved into her hair, put down the diePad she had been working on and stepped towards the desk. "Yes ma'am?"

Cleo held out a page. "Read this and tell me.. do these tips sound like anything you would do with your boyfriend?"

Tanis quickly scanned the page. Her pale face blushed red as she read a certain paragraph. "N... no way, ma'am! I could never ask him to do these... I don't even think they're physically possible."

"Yes, I thought so..." Cleo frowned. She switched on an intercom on her desk. "Catherine, could you come into my office please?"

Cleo then clasped her hands in front of her, waiting patiently for the writer to appear with a calm expression on her face. Only Tanis looked slightly nervous. She knew what was coming.

Shortly, a blonde leggy succubus named Catherine entered the office, smiling as if expecting good news. "You called, ma'am?"

"Yes Catherine.. sit down." Catherine took a chair, and Cleo pushed the draft of her article toward her. "I just finished reading your article, '25 Amazing Positions to excite your Manster."

"Ooh, I'm so glad!" Catherine giggled. "I worked my butt off to get it finished in time. I think it's one of the best things I've written for the magazine yet."

"Yes..." Cleo spoke dryly. "That said, I think there need to be a few revisions."

"Erm.. like what?"

"Well for starters, I wouldn't title it '25 Amazing Positions to excite your Manster." Cleo's eye's narrowed. "I would call it '25 Insipid, Insane and Impossible ways to traumatize your Boyfriend and break your back!"

Catherine's eyes were wide with shock. "W..what?"

Cleo's voice rose in anger."Several of these 'positions' of yours are simply variations of things we printed in previous issues, and some of these you've obviously borrowed from other writers! And the new ones you came up with are ridiculous!"

She held up the draft page and pointed at a rather suggestive diagram. "Not even the most flexible shapeshifter could bend themselves into these positions without hurting themselves. And this one! 'Surprise him by lightly whipping him on the butt with a riding crop'?!"

She glared at Catherine. "What are you trying to do, make every single one of our readers single?!"

"I... I didn't.."

"I don't know what crummy rag you used to write for before coming here. Probably that sorry waste of pulp the normies call Cosmo. But at _Eternal Ghoul_ we hold ourselves to a higher standard! Our readers want real, factual content, something that every monster can relate to and understand. Not this phoney garbage which sounds like something ripped off from an awful romance novel."

Catherine seemed ready to burst into tears as Cleo leaned forward and clasped her hands. Her voice was now even. "However.. I'm in a charitable mood tonight, so I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself. You have two days until we go to print to rewrite this article, with some proper, factual advice. If its up to scratch, you get to write more articles for us. If not..."

She trailed off.. but Catherine got the message loud and clear. She got to her feet, trembling. "Ye.. yes Ma'am. I'll get right on it."

She walked out of the office, sniffling slightly.

"If you don't mind me saying ma'am... that was a bit harsh." Tanis spoke up.

"Call it tough love." Cleo replied simply. "If this encourages her to improve her work, then it'll be worth putting the fear of Ra into her."

"I don't think it's Ra she's afraid of..." Tanis muttered.

"Anyway.." Cleo snapped her fingers. "What's my schedule for tomorrow?"

Tanis checked her diePad. "You have a interview with Michael Booble at eleven, a meeting with the fashion photographers before one, then there's the party for the Egyptian Wing opening at the museum at seven."

Cleo sighed. "Ah, so much to do. I don't know why everyone thinks a person in my position has it so easy."

Tanis rolled her eyes at that.

"Well, I think we're done here. Tanis, you're free to go home. Just tell my driver to have the car ready on your way out, would you?"

"Sure thing ma'am. Going anywhere tonight?"

"Just to my school reunion to meet a few old friends, bask in the adoration of everyone I've ever associated with." Cleo replied gaily.

"So, the usual then?" Tanis sighed. "See you tomorrow ma'am."

Tanis left the office, leaving Cleo alone to gather her thoughts. After a few moments of quiet, she took a deep breath and picked up her phone, selecting a certain number on her speed dial.

"Hello.. yes, it's Miss DeNile... Oh hello Harry! How are you... yes I'm just finishing.. I was just wondering if anything had turned up in the Nefera case..."

Her smile faded as she listened. "Oh, nothing new then. No no, I appreciate your efforts. Please let me know if you discover anything... thank you."

A long sigh escaped her lips as she put down the phone. She looked across her desk at a group of picture frames. Some of her and Deuce, her friends, and most prominently one of her, Nefera and her father, smiling together. The last picture of them together.

Brushing aside her melancholy, she dialed on the phone again, this time calling the Copperhead Restaurant.

* * *

The Copperhead was packed with diners, a usual occurrence for a Friday night. With orders coming in thick and fast, the staff were rushing about the kitchen preparing meals, under the close scrutiny of their head chef.

Deuce finished up seasoning two orders of finely seared devilcow steaks, then swiftly moved to a large bubbling pot to take a sip of the soup within.

"This needs a little more mandragora in it." He ordered a nearby chef. He hadn't finished talking before he moved to another chef's station, checking on the cockatrice breasts sizzling on the stove.

"Those look crispy enough, get them ready to go out." He turned to the center prep area, where a man with three heads was swiftly preparing several meals at once. "Freddie, you got that party order ready yet?"

"Almost done Chef!" "Chef presque terminé!" "Chef casi listo!" Freddie's three heads replied in unison, each in a different language.

Deuce nodded, a pleased smile crossing his face as he observed his kitchen crew working away. They were a pretty tight knit group since the restaurant had opened two years ago, and he could always count on them to get the job done.

Well, most of them anyway. His smile faded when he spotted Edd, one of the young trainee chefs they had brought in recently, standing in a corner groaning on a cell phone instead of watching the steaks he was meant to be grilling.

"Edd! What the hell?!" He bellowed as he stepped over, causing the zombie to jump. "You know you're not meant to be calling people in here! And why aren't you watching the steaks?"

"Urrrrgh..." Edd pointed to his phone.

"I don't care if you have a timer on the phone! You watch them to make sure they cook properly! These were meant to be medium rare, not well done!"

"Errrgh!" Edd half-heartedly apologized.

Deuce's eyes narrowed. "You know, I have had it up to here with your bad attitude pal. If you're not gonna take your job in here seriously, then maybe I should put you somewhere where you'll be more useful."

Edd just shrugged, clearly not worried.

Deuce sighed. "Alright then... hold your arms out."

Confused, Edd extended his arms in front of him. Deuce lowered his rimless shades and hit the zombie with a mild blast of petrifying rays. Edd was instantly encased in stone, a surprised look on his face.

Another trainee chef, a catgirl, ran up to Deuce. "Chef! Your wife's on the phone..."

She trailed off when she noticed the frozen zombie. "Oh my..."

Deuce faced her. "It's okay, it'll wear off by tonight. Could you put him by the door for me? I'll take the call in my office."

Leaving the trainee to drag the petrified Edd out of the kitchen, Deuce headed to his office to grab the phone.

"Hey babe... yeah, everything's fine... I was just about to get ready... Cleo, relax, I got my best suit out. I promise, we'll make a real splash when we enter the party... yeah, I'm not my way, I'll pick you up in thirty minutes.. love you too babe."

Hanging up, Deuce grabbed a garment bag hanging from the back of his chair. Minutes later he emerged from the office wearing a finely cut green suit.

"I'm off to my reunion! Freddie, you're in charge!"

"Have fun!" "Amusez-vous!" "¡Que te diviertas!"

Deuce made his way out the kitchen and through the restaurant. As he exited through the front door, he passed by the petrified Edd, who now wore a sign around his neck proclaiming 'Please leave your coats with me.' An entering patron draped her fur coat across his frozen arms.

* * *

New Salem Municipal Airport was fairly quiet as night approached, with only a few flights taking off or pulling in for arrival. One such plane, for Nightmair Airlines, was parked as it's passengers made their departure into the airport.

Only one couple didn't immediately enter the building, instead walking slowly towards the rear of the plane where the cargo hold was being unloaded.

A vampire attendant unloading some bags noticed the two, one a tall zombie whose muscular body seemed too large for the Hawaiian patterned shirt and shorts he wore, the other a petite zombie with blue hair wearing a flower patterned dress who linked arms with him.

"Can I help you?" The attendant spoke.

"Errrgh." Moe pointed at the cargo hold.

"You here for your luggage? You have to pick it up in the arrivals lounge."

"Guuuugh, Errrah." Ghoulia spoke up, holding up her and Moe's passports, as well as some papers.

"You brought a large container, and want to make sure it got here okay?" The attendant repeated, glancing at the passports. "Okay, I guess I can let you stay... give me a moment, I'll bring it out for you."

Ghoulia and Moe stood quietly for several minutes as the attendant searched the cargo hold. Eventually he wheeled out a large plastic pod, the shape of an egg and the size of a small couch.

"Well, here you go." The attendant patted the side of the pod. "Man, this is some souvenir. What's in here anyway? I gotta ask.. customs and all that."

"Errrgh." Ghoulia replied, smiling.

"Some old friends?" The attendant blinked, puzzled.

Suddenly, the pod's lid opened slightly, allowing a hiss of trapped air and several liters of water to escape from the opening and spill onto the tarmac.  
The attendant nearly fell over in surprise as the lid fully opened, revealing two monsters clad in swimsuits resting inside it, partially submerged in a pool of water.

Lagoona sat up and stretched her arms. "Awww, that feels better. These things are so cramped."

Gil rubbed his stiff legs. "That's the price you pay for getting a submersion pod at the last minute, I guess. Least we didn't dry out during the trip.."

Lagoona turned to Ghoulia. "Oh hey. How was your trip love?"

"Uhhhhh." Ghoulia shrugged.

"Yeah, a bit boring. Me and Gil were asleep most of the time." Lagoona and Gil stepped out of the pod, Gil checking on the aluminum collar he wore around his neck. It stored and provided water to his gills, allowing him to breathe without wearing his old glass helmet.

Gil pulled out some waterproof suitcases. "Sweetheart, which one had the towels in it again..."

Moe reached into his carrybag and produced two towels for the aquatic couple to dry off with.

"Thanks bro... so, when does the reunion start again?" Gil asked.

"Guuuagh." Ghoulia pointed at her watch.

"Not long then." Lagoona noted. "We'd better check into the hotel and get ready."

Moe took their suitcases, and the four started walking toward the airport, leaving the stunned attendant to stare at the pod.

"Gosh, I can't wait to see everyone again. There's so much I want to catch up on..." Lagoona gushed.

* * *

The air over the mountain was clear and crisp, with no clouds obscuring the view of the stars. Abbey could have happily stayed atop the cliff all night just to watch them.

But tonight was not that night. Tonight, for the first time in months, she would be making her trip down the mountain, back to Salem and Monster High.

Adjusting her winter coat, She wandered over to her trusty mammoth Shiver, the small baby she had raised now a full grown, massive woolly beast. As Shiver rose to his feet, she checked on the harness securing the saddle to his back.

"You ready to go?" A deep, gruff voice spoke.

She turned to see a huge yeti, powerfully muscular and just as tall as her, standing nearby. Sitting on his shoulder was a small yeti child, clutching his fur jacket.

"Yep." She moved closer to her husband. "You sure you don't want to come?"

Yakov shrugged. "Is fine. Have met your friends already and besides, still have lots of crops to package for sale tomorrow."

Abbey smirked. "So serious. You must learn to let hair down once in while."

Yakov gave a hearty laugh. "Hah, give me some real ale and good food, not that weak stuff those Salem guys drink, and I will show you how I party!"

Abbey smiled and kissed him on the lips, then kissed her son's forehead. "Behave for your papa, alright?"

"Will you come back mama?" The child replied.

"Da, Ivan." She ruffled his messy white hair. "I'll be back in the morning, and we'll all go to the market together."

Ivan hugged her. Happy that her family was well, she turned to Shiver and clambered atop his back. With a command from her, the mighty mammoth began lumbering down the hill. Yakov and Ivan waved to her as she began her descent.

* * *

Salem was relatively crime free, but even a small country town had it's share of vandals, drunks and troublemakers. And on weekends, they all seemed to be causing disturbances all at once. Hence, the sheriff's office was full of noise as deputies pulled in various offenders and answered calls.

"MRRRROOOOWWWWW!" A large minotaur bellowed as he was led into the main office. "Gimme mah phone call! I'm nae drunk!"

The deputy leading him in sighed. "Horace, you are one drunk, sorry son of a heifer, you know that?"

"I wasnae even doing anything! I was just walking along!"

"Yeah, walking along, screaming obscenities at passerbys.. and I believe you took a piss on some poor shopkeeper's front entrance. You know, people frown on that kind of thing."

He led Horace to the nearby cells. "Now why don't you sit down, sleep it off, and when you wake up I'll have some nice shiny fines for you to pay..."

Horace suddenly bolted forward, breaking free of the deputy's grasp, and spun to face him. Steam flared from his nostrils.

"Ye dinnae tell me what to do, ye ginger bastard!" He charged forward to gore the deputy with his horns..  
And stopped abruptly when the deputy's hand suddenly burst into flame.

Heath stared down the drunken bull. "You gonna calm down now? Or am I gonna have to set something on fire? With the amount of booze you've got in you, you'll probably go up like a roman candle."

Horace quivered and help up his hands in surrender. "I'll be good!"

Heath maintained the flame until Horace walked himself into a cell, then blew it out and locked the door. "Thanks for being so cooperative."

"BURNS!" A deep voice boomed behind him. Heath paled and turned to face the huge, hairy form of Sheriff Growler.

"What have I told you about using those flames of yours at headquarters?!"

"I'm sorry Chief! I was just trying to subdue the perp!" Heath pleaded, intimidated by the large werewolf towering over him.

"Yeah, and the last time you used your damn powers to do that, you started a fire fight with two dragonmen and almost burned the whole damn building down!" Growler barked back.

"Hey, that was ages ago! And I didn't know they were gonna fight back with fire breath!" Heath retorted. His resolve was weakened by the steel eyed glare of his boss.  
He lowered his head. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, just don't do it again." Growler replied. "Anyway, you'd better get changed."

Heath blinked. "Changed? For what?"

"For your damn school reunion. You've been goin' on about it all week."

Heath slapped his forehead. "Aw damn, you're right! I gotta suit up!"

He rushed to his desk and hastily scribbled out a arrest report. "Man, I am so pumped for this! All those hot chicks who wouldn't go out with me when I was a kid.. I bet most of them will be scrambling to be with me once they see Heath Burns, former loser is now Heath Burns, badass officer of the peace!"

"Badass? Hah!" Growler laughed. "Word of advice kid, that badge ain't exactly a chick magnet. In fact it tends to scare people off."

"Yeah, well I'm different. I've been cultivating the image of the approachable, charming, yet rugged lawman around town.."

Growler laughed again. "Ha! Rugged?! Kid no offense, but the last thing anyone thinks when they see you is rugged."

Heath scowled. "Huh, you'll see. The future Mrs Burns is probably at that reunion, and I'm gonna meet her!"  
He grabbed his coat from a chair. "And if you're lucky, I might give you a wedding invite."

"If by some miracle you do get hitched, I'll eat my hat."

"I'll hold you to that, Chief." Heath smirked as he jogged out the office. "See you tomorrow!"  
Growler chuckled as he watched Heath leave. "Good luck kid. You're gonna need it."

* * *

After parking her old muscle car, Frankie stepped out and checked herself in the side view mirror. Hair looked good, her make-up was perfect, and her black dress with a blue lightning strike running down the side looked freaky fab.

Well, almost. She frowned as she looked at her midsection. Despite it's best efforts, the dress couldn't quite hide the small potbelly she had developed over the years, or how wide her hips and chest had gotten. She couldn't understand how, despite being on her feet most of the day at work, she put on so much weight. She hoped her friends didn't make too much fun of her size.

As she walked out of the parking lot, she looked up at the towering building of Monster High, and was hit by a wave of nostalgia. The school had hardly changed in ten years, still looking as creepy and mysterious as the day she graduated.  
She could still see that day in her mind...

_"We did it ghouls! We graduated!"_  
_"I know, it's incredible! I actually have a diploma for the first time in hundreds of years!"_  
_"Yeah... it's great.. real great.."_  
_"What's the matter Frankie?"_  
_"My father got a call... I've been accepted into the Ingolstadt academy of Monster Medicine"_  
_"Well, congratulations! That's what you were aiming for, your father's old school right?"_  
_"I know, but it means... I have to leave to go to Germany in a few weeks."_  
_"Oh..."_  
_"I want to be a doctor.. but I don't want to leave here! I love this town, I love you ghouls..."_  
_"For the love of Ra, it's not like we'll disappear the minute you leave. We'll still keep in touch."_  
_"Da, easier than ever nowadays. They still have internet and phones in Germany, no?"_  
_"Yeah... but it won't be the same as being here."_  
_"It won't be the same as before, but we'll still be friends.. we'll just be apart."_  
_"Yeah, and we can always meet up whenever we get the chance._  
_"You.. you mean that?"_  
_"Sure. I'll spring for the flights to Germany myself."_  
_"We said we'd be best ghoulfriends forever, right? Well, we meant it!"_  
_"You guys... you're amazing. Now I really don't want to go..."_  
_"You better! When we're all rich and famous we'll be coming to the best doctor around for treatment, and that'll be you!"_

Frankie smiled at the memory. She might not have been able to stay close to all of her friends, but there were still many she had kept in touch with over the years, and a few who had gotten ever closer since coming back to Salem. She wondered if she'd ever get the chance to meet them all..

"Frankie! Frankie! Over here!" A voice with an unmistakable Romanian accent called out to her. She looked at the school entrance to see Clawdeen, Draculaura, Clawd and a large monster she didn't recognize standing by the steps. She broke into a quick step towards them, careful not to break her heels.

Clawdeen hadn't changed much in the ten years, save for completely removing all traces of colouring dye from her hair to maintain a smart appearance for her two jobs. She was dressed in a daringly cut purple and gold dress, no doubt her own design, which clung to her curvier figure.

Draculaura and Clawd looked a lot different from when they had graduated, though it was understandable given the lifestyle changes they had taken on in the last few years. Laura was now slightly plump, her curves filling out her dark pink victorian-style dress, and Clawd wasn't quite as muscular as before, but he still cut a fine figure in his dark suit.

"Oh it's so good to see you!" Laura cried as she and Clawdeen hugged Frankie simultaneously. "It's been so long!"

"We only saw each other a few days ago, over coffee remember?" Frankie replied.

"I know, but we've been so busy lately, it feels like forever."

"How you been, ghoul?" Clawdeen asked.

"Oh you know, business as usual." Frankie replied. "It's the calm before the storm though. Once summer hits we're bound to get lots of patients coming in with the usual summer aliments. Dried up sea creatures, vampires with heatstroke..."

"Ugh, I know what that's like." Laura sighed.

"We can talk about that later." Clawdeen motioned for Vince to step closer. "Frankie, I'd like you to meet Vince."

Frankie took Vince's hand, looking the monster over. "Oh, so you're the handsome guy Clawdeen keeps going on about."

"And you must be the infamous Frankie Stein. It's a pleasure." Vince shook her hand, smirking a little at Clawdeen's blushing expression. "Clawdeen tells me you once saved the school from an army of angry normies. Is that true?"

It was Frankie's turn to blush. "Well, it wasn't just me. It was really a team effort..."

Suddenly, there was a loud roar of a motor engine. Everyone turned to see a red cruiser motorcycle racing up the driveway, slowing to a halt near the group.  
The rider got off and removed his helmet, revealing a familiar head of flaming red hair.

"Hey hey, Heath's in the house!" Heath cheered as he approached. "Clawd! Looking good!"

"Heath! Good to see you bro." Clawd moved to give Heath a friendly hug.

"Good to see you too!" Heath flashed his best smile at the girls. "And it's really good to see you fine ladies again. Need me to warm you up?"

The girls chuckled and rolled their eyes. Despite the years, Heath's come-ons were as cheesy as ever.

"Watch out man, that's my wife you're hitting on there." Clawd warned jokingly.

"Yeah, and I'm taken too." Clawdeen indicated Vince, who was glaring at the fire elemental.

"Relax everyone, I ain't out to break your hearts. I know you've all gotten over me, as tough as it was." Heath smirked. "I'm just here to party, have fun and let everyone bask in my general awesomeness."

"Well, I certainly hope this... 'awesomeness' you speak of includes behaving a little better." A refined voice spoke up.

Heath jumped in fright as he realized Headless Headmistress Bloodgood was standing right behind him. Clad in a dark green dress, the head of the school looked as classy as ever.

"Headmistress, it's so good to see you." Frankie spoke.

"Please Doctor Stein, it's just Mrs Bloodgood now, you're not a student here."

"I know, but I can't help it. You're always going to be the Headmistress to me."

"Well tonight, I am merely here to chaperone and catch up with some old friends, so please don't feel the need to be formal." She cast a wry glance at Heath. "I do hope you don't plan to make my job difficult, Mr Burns. I want this night to be enjoyable for everyone."

Heath swallowed nervously. "Er... no problem ma'am!" The girls giggled.

"Well then.." Bloodgood beckoned the girls to follow her. "Tonight is your night, so lets get to the party already. It's in the Hall of Halloween, I'll lead you down there."

* * *

The former students followed the Headmistress as she led them inside the building, taking them into one of the long paths through the Catacombs. It took them several minutes before they reached the Hall of Halloween, which had been converted into an all purpose event hall when the girls had graduated.

Frankie was wide eyed as she admired the hall. The Jack-o-Lantern fireplace was in full blaze, and the walls were decorated with streamers and large, blown up pictures of various students and events from 2013. The head of the reunion committee had certainly done a great job of designing this event.. and said head was approaching them right now.

"Ghouls! How delightful to see you!" Cleo held her arms wide as she drew nearer for a hug from her old friends. She looked every inch the woman of power she had become in her shimmering gold dress, decorated with Egyptian symbols. Deuce was by her side, looking smart in his suit as he approached Clawd to shake hands.

"Cleo, this place looks amazing!" Frankie exclaimed as she and the others hugged Cleo.

"Oh, it was no trouble really." Cleo spoke smugly. "The photos were my idea, a nice way to remind everyone of everything we did in that year."

"I see you made sure everyone was reminded of you." Clawdeen spoke dryly, pointing to several photos of Cleo dominating one part of the far wall.

"Well, I was rather remarkable that year.." Cleo fawned. Her friends just rolled their eyes. Clearly Cleo's ego hadn't deflated too much in the last ten years.

"Er.. Anyway, look who made it here!" Cleo gestured toward two familiar friends who were approaching the group with their significant others.

Apart from her blonde hair now cut in a short bob, Lagoona seemed to have hardly changed at all, her fit figure displayed wonderfully in a silk turquoise dress. Next to her, shuffling as elegantly as she could in her red and white dress, was the recently wed Ghoulia Mortavitch.

"Oh ghouls, it's so good to see you again!" Lagoona exclaimed, tears in her eyes. She and Ghoulia hugged the newcomers warmly.

"I know.. it's almost been a year since I last saw you." Frankie replied. "Since you and Gil left for Hawaii."  
"Did you just arrive from there?" Laura asked.

Lagoona nodded. "Yep. we got some time off from our research there, but we had a devilfish of a time trying to get a flight out. Luckily, Ghoulia and Moe were returning from their honeymoon, so they offered to let us come along with them."

"Well, we'll certainly want to hear all about your time over there..." Cleo replied, but was interrupted by a loud yell.

"MY FRIENDS! SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!" Before she could react, Frankie felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her and grasp her in a powerful hug, lifting her off the ground. She yelped in surprise before she was put back down.

"Abbey!" She exclaimed, turning to face her. Abbey was a little thicker than before, but she was still as tall and statuesque as ever, and looked fantastic in a dress patterned with black ice crystals. These facts weren't overlooked by Heath, who immediately began preening his hair and freshening his breath with some spray.

"My friends, I've missed you so!" Abbey declared.

"We've missed you too ghoul." Frankie replied. "You look great."

"So do you. Am glad to see some of you have finally put on curves."

Frankie and Laura blushed slightly. "Is it that noticeable?"

Abbey laughed. "Don't be ashamed, you look good!"

"You got that right." Heath sidled up to Abbey, flashing his best grin. "So Abbey, how about we catch up on old times..."

Deuce grasped Heath's shoulder and spun him around. "Hey, let's go talk to Moe and Gil! I bet they've got some stories to tell!" He began dragging Heath away.

""Dude, what are you doing?" Heath struggled to break free of his grip.

"You know she's married, right?" Deuce hissed at him. He smiled at Cleo. "We're gonna meet with some of the guys, catch up with you later babe!"

Cleo waved good bye as Deuce and Clawd dragged Heath with the, toward the other males.  
Abbey shook her head. "Heath still not changed much, I see."

"He's actually a pretty good cop. I see him during some of my cases, he really takes the job seriously." Clawdeen spoke. "When he's off duty though.. it's classic Heath all over again."

"I have a feeling he still feels strongly about you.." Laura murmured.

"Well well, look who it is!" A deep Southern accent boomed. Everyone turned to see a familiar red haired ghoul with a scarred face. "Only the craziest bunch of ghouls to ever grace this fine institution."

"Operetta! "Clawdeen exclaimed. "Wow, I haven't seen you in years!"

"Same here! Been too busy running my damn bar to come down here and see you ghouls" She smiled. "Reckon I rushed down here faster than a greased toad when I got the invite."

"Well, it's good to see you too." Clawdeen hugged her. "Man, we have so much to catch up on..."

"Well,what y`all waiting for? Let's git a table, grab some booze and start talking! I got a ton of tales to tell."

"And I want to hear them." A soft, whisper like voice spoke up. A glow appeared at their feet,and everyone stepped back to witness Spectra Vondergeist float up through the floor, dressed in a sheer evening dress.

"Spectra!" Laura exclaimed. "Oh, I wish I could hug you, but I'd probably pass right through you."

Spectra chuckled. "That's okay, it's wonderful just to see you all again."

"Still running that gossipy blog of yours?" Lagoona asked.

"Of course, when I'm not writing for Cleo." Spectra replied proudly.

"Uh huh. And I suppose you want to hear about all the embarrassing things we've done in the last ten years to fill your latest post, right?" Frankie spoke, smiling knowingly.

"Why, I would never post personal,potentially juicy stories about you ghouls... honest." Spectra pouted."Although, I would like to let everyone know how everyone's been doing in the last few years. I've already interviewed several monsters and gotten their stories."

"Ooh, any interesting ones?" Laura asked, eager for gossip.

"Tell you what, lets get a table and I'll tell all."

"Alright.." Clawdeen turned to Vince. "You want to join us?"

"Nah, don't wanna intrude on your girly chat. I'll stick with Clawd here." Vince replied.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to the guys..." Clawd led Vince towards Moe and Gil.

"Alright.. settle down ghouls." Spectra indicated a large round table in the corner. "It's story time."

* * *

It took a few minutes for the ghouls to grab some drinks from the bar, during which they ran into a few old acquaintances who stopped to say hello, but eventually they were all crowded around a small table, where Spectra floated overhead while pointing out various former student bodies.

"No way!" Clawdeen exclaimed as Spectra finished her latest bit of gossip. "I cannot believe... not him!"

"See for yourself." Spectra pointed across the hall at Manny Taur, who looked surprisingly dapper in the tuxedo he wore. He was standing next to a tall, muscular gargoyle while he talked to someone, and it was pretty obvious the two were holding hands.

"Isn't that one of the guys from the Granite High SKRM team we beat? Gary something..." Lagoona asked.

Spectra nodded, and Clawdeen shook her head in amazement. "I'll be damned.. the way Manny kept being a jerk to everyone, I would have never imagined he was into guys."

"I think that was the point. He acted that way so no one would ever suspect." Spectra spoke. "But he's completely out in the open about it now, and he's been apologizing to people he pushed around ever since he got here."

"He certainly looks happier.." Frankie commented, noticing that Manny didn't have the perpetual scowl he'd worn all through his school year.

"Good for him." Laura said. "It's nice to see that so many people found someone after school. There are so many couples here.." She looked across to see Bram and Gory Devein, the couple lavishly dressed and looking every inch the sophisticated vampire couple. Gory was currently nattering to some other vampires about her pregnancy, occasionally rubbing the swell of her stomach for effect, while Bram watched her proudly.

"And some really unexpected ones too..." Frankie added. She cast her gaze over to none other than Hoodude Voodude, the living cloth doll cutting a surprisingly dashing figure in his stitched together suit. He stood arm in arm with his partner, a rather adorable ghost girl in an 20's style dress named Erika Plasm. The two were talking to Headmistress Bloodgood, occasionally looking at each other adoringly. Frankie smiled, thinking of how Hoodude and Erika had taken over Mrs Kindergrubber's foster home after she had passed away. She was pleased that the boyfriend she had accidentally created had found happiness after experiencing a lot of bad luck in his life.

It made her think of the other men in her school life. Were Jackson and Holt attending the reunion? She had always regretted how things had ended between them, and had never got the chance to patch things up before he had left Salem.  
Maybe she would be able to rekindle their friendship if she got the chance to meet him... them. And after that.. who knew where things could go.  
It would be nice to have that feeling of being in a relationship again.

"...and Ivan rode mammoth with his father for first time. He was so happy!" She returned to the conversation Abbey had now started about her family. "Will not be long before he is hunting yak too."

"Aww, that's so sweet." Lagoona cooed.

Cleo raised an eyebrow. "Isn't he like, four? Isn't that a little young for hunting?"

"Is not unusual. I was hunting jackrabbits before I learn to read." Abbey shrugged.

"That explains a lot.." Cleo looked disturbed. "Still, I must commend you Abbey. I thought you were crazy for wanting to go back to the mountains after spending time here, but it seems you've done well for yourself up there."

"Well, always meant to return to village. Wanting to modernize my home and make life better for my people was reason for going to Monster High in first place."

"And who has that been going?"

"Has been slow. My people very resistant to change. But we have internet and phones now to talk to people, a few machines to help with making clothes and food to sell, and more girls are copying modern fashion styles. So, we are doing okay." Abbey spoke proudly. "I am still sad I never became pro snowboarder on the side, but I am happy with how life has turned out."

"Yeah, I know that feeling." Clawdeen said. "I always imagined I'd be famous and owning a huge fashion line with shops all over the world by this time. Now I got one small shop and I do law on the side to help keep it afloat. The most exciting thing I've done this month was pick out new materials and colours for my spring line and help some families get back some money they were cheated out of."

She smiled wistfully. "But you know, I couldn't be happier. I'm making clothes and I'm helping people out. Can't ask for more than that."

"Me too honey." Operetta smiled. "I still remember when I first got signed to DeadHead Records. I thought I was finally gonna be living the life of a rock star."

She frowned. "Instead I spent most of the time being pushed around by yes men tellin' me how to dress, what my songs should sound like, ruining my creativity and sucking the fun out of the whole thing.. is it any wonder my first single only got to number twelve in the charts?"

"I thought it was a great song." Laura consoled.

"Ah, would have been better if I hadn't gone through all that damn rigmarole just to get it released." Operetta shrugged. "Still, least I made some money out of it. Thanks to that I was able to open my bar. Now I can sing what I want, how I want, and my customers keep coming back for more. And that's all I need."

Frankie sighed, resting her head on her hand. "It's funny how things turn out sometimes. You set out for one goal, but you end up with something completely different. And sometimes, that thing is better than you ever expected."

Operetta and Clawdeen nodded in agreement, while Cleo suddenly frowned as she noticed a certain figure.  
"Speaking of the unexpected.. look who's shown up."

Everyone followed her gaze to see a orange furred werecat, clad in a red evening dress, talking to some female alumni.

"Is that Toralei?" Frankie exclaimed.

"What's she doing here?" Cleo spoke disdainfully. "I thought she finally got expelled our graduating year."

"No, she was just suspended after she beat up that student. She missed the ceremony, but she still graduated." Lagoona recalled.

"I wonder why she's here.. she was never fond of the school." Laura asked.

"Perhaps planning another of her stupid pranks." Abbey growled.

Laura blinked as she noticed Toralei turn and walk towards their table. "Oh my Goth, she's coming this way! What do we do?"

"Tell her to piss off, what else?" Clawdeen shrugged.

"Come on ghouls, let's be polite." Frankie admonished. "We're adults now, lets act like it."

The ghouls watched Toralei warily as she approached the table. She looked remarkably different from her high school days, her once lithe figure now thicker, her hair longer and thicker, and a slight, weary look in her eyes. Despite that, she still had her familiar smirk on her face as she gazed over the groups.

"Hi there... should have known I'd find you ghouls all together again." She purred.

"Toralei! It's er... so nice to see you." Frankie said lamely.

"Nice to see you too.. though I don't think everyone shares your sentiment." Toralei replied, glancing at everyone's accusing stares.

"Toralei." Cleo said bluntly, hands clasped under her chin. "Must say I'm surprised to see you here."

"I could say the same for you. I figured you'd be too busy being Queen of the World to hang out with ordinary plebs like us."

"For your information, I helped organize this event." Cleo replied smugly. "What reason do you have to be here?"

"I wasn't going to come, but Bloodgood asked me to keep an eye on things, and make sure no one acts like an idiot." Toralei sighed.

Cleo's eyes widened. "Why would Headmistress Bloodgood ask YOU of all people to chaperone?"

"Well, I do work here now. I'm the Clawculus teacher."

Everyone's jaws dropped at that revelation.

"You teach here?!" Clawdeen gasped. "Willingly?"

Toralei just shrugged. "Well yeah. I did pick up a few things from that math camp you sent me to, might as well use them."

She tensed up. "Speaking of which... you remember how that happened?"

Laura scowled. "You mean when you tried to get us expelled so you could become a fearleader again? Yeah, that kinda stuck in our minds."

Toralei took a deep breath. "Well.. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for doing that, and for doing all the other awful crap I did to you."

The group's eyes grew even wider.

"Di.. did we just slip into some bizarre alternate universe, or did she actually apologize to us?" Cleo spat out.

Toralei looked very annoyed. "Really? Is it that much of a stretch to believe I might have matured in the last ten years?"

She glared at their incredulous faces. "I guess so.. sorry to bother you." She turned to walk away.

"Toralei, wait!" Frankie called out, stopping her in her tracks. "We're sorry!"

She turned back to see Frankie's apologetic look. "It's just... we never heard anything about you for years after we left school, and after the way you acted.. we kinda assumed the worst, you know."

The werecat sighed. "Yeah.. guess I can't blame you."

"But if you say you've changed, then we're willing to give you a chance, right guys?" Frankie looked at her friends, who all gave wary nods of agreement. Even Cleo managed a shrug.

"Would you like to join us?"

Toralei seemed hesitant, but she then broke into a smile.

"Ah, why not? I'm kinda curious to know what you losers have been up to."

"Back at you." Frankie grinned. "Take a seat."

* * *

"..And then, he started charging at me with a knife! Instinct kicked in. I grabbed his arm and tossed him over my head and onto the ground!" Heath enthusiastically waved his arms as he told another story from his days on Salem's police force. "It was totally epic, like something out of Stalker, Texas Ranger!"

Deuce, Clawd, Moe, Gil and Vince stared at Heath with skeptical and incredulous stares.

"You know, I'm pretty sure that guy could sue you for that.." Vince spoke.

"Ah no worries!" Heath waved it away. "The guy was selling drugs to teens, no lawyer around here is gonna stick up for him."

"For your sake I hope not..."

Gil shook his head. "I still can't quite believe it. Heath Burns, lawman. How on earth did you convince them to give you the job?"

"Good looks and charm, old buddy!" Heath grinned. "That, and I studied by ass off to pass the test. Plus, Sheriff Growler gave me a chance to work under him. Said he wanted me to make something of my life."

"Can't say I blame him." Clawd smirked. "I recall he was always locking you up for getting rowdy in the streets after too many beers on the weekends. Guess he got tired of you taking up the drunk tank."

"That only happened a few times!" Heath spat back. "I was young and dumb back then, man! But I've totally changed."

"True, you're not young anymore."

"Hah de fricking hah..."

Deuce patted Heath's shoulder. "We're just joking bro. Seriously, we're all proud of you for sticking with it."

Heath rubbed his hair bashfully. "Thanks guys.. that means a lot."

He noticed two attractive females walking by, and put on a sly smirk. "Only thing that could make this night better would be to go home with one of these fine honeys I've seen tonight. Or win back the heart of a certain ice queen..."

"Oh boy.." Clawd huffed.

"Dude, if you're thinking of hooking up with Abbey, forget it." Deuce warned. "Despite what you think, she's happily married to that Yakov guy. And you really don't want to mess with that guy's wife. I've seen him, he's huge."

"I know, I know.." Heath sighed. "Guy can dream though, right?"

"You gotta move on man. It's not healthy to dwell on the past. For all of us." Deuce cringed slightly, recalling how Heath had been a sobbing wreck when he and Abbey had split up just before graduation.

"You're right." Heath nodded. "Somewhere in here is the woman of my dreams, and I'm gonna find her!"

He took a long swig of his drink and started walking towards the dance floor. "I wonder if Twyla is around, she was pretty cute.."

"She's here." Deuce called to him. "And she's with Billy."

"Dammit!" Heath cursed as he walked off.

Clawd shook his head. "Some things never change..."

"So er..." Vince changed tracks. "Deuce.. you run that restaurant the Copperhead, right? I've eaten there with a few clients before, your food is excellent! I never knew you could fry basilisk tongues with butter and chives. Hell, I didn't even know you could eat basilisk tongues before I came to your place."

"Thanks. Always nice to hear from a happy customer." Deuce smiled.

"Think you can squeeze me and Lagoona in?" Gil asked. "The in-flight magazine raved all about your place. I gotta try it."

"Sure thing bro. Though I have to warn you, we don't have a lot of seafood dishes."

"Heh, I could do with a change from seafood. It's practically all we ate in Hawaii."

"Hawaii, eh? On vacation?" Vince asked.

"No, research. Lagoona and I work for a company called Oceanic Research and Conservation Association. We travel around studying marine life, clean up the coasts and oceans and make sure people keep it that way."

"ORCA? Isn't that run by er.. humans?"

Gil grinned. "Yeah, but when two water monsters who can swim to tremendous depths for several hours without oxygen apply for a research job, they tend to make exceptions."

"Pretty sweet gig though. You must travel a lot."

"That's a plus, sure.." Gil sighed. "But it's a lot of work, and it gets a little disorientating, never staying in one place for too long. Luckily, Lagoona and I might be working at a permanent location in the near future, so you might be seeing a lot more of us."

He faced Clawd. "So, how's the shoe company going?"

"They're not shoes, they're 'bespoke training footwear." Clawd grinned. "But yeah, the company is doing fine. More stores are stocking our shoes and our online orders are through the roof. Though it's a little boring now I'm stuck in the office managing all the business stuff most of the day. I miss when I was helping make the shoes, you know? Least I'm still helping design them.."

"Hang on... Clawdeen mentioned you made shoes.." Vince's jaw dropped. "You're the guy who makes those 'Beastie' sneakers? No way! I heard they're the most wanted shoes right now. Everyone and their mum is trying to get a pair."

Clawd rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, we're not that popular just yet. That's just those crazy sneaker collectors talking."

"Wow, never thought I'd meet so many celebrities at this thing." Vince grinned, sensing an opportunity. "Say, I don't suppose you lads need any legal representation, do you? My firm's one of the best in town."

Clawd frowned. "Huh, Clawdeen was right, you are eager.."

"Nah, I'm good pal." Deuce nudged Moe, who had remained silent up to now. "But Moe might need one. He's thinking of branching out his family's deli."

Moe put on his least terrifying smile and waved. Vince's face fell slightly.

"Yeah, uhh... we could discuss that later.."

Clawd and Gil chuckled.  
It was then that Clawd spotted a head of dark hair with blond highlights mingle through the crowd as it approached them. The person stepped forward, revealing a slim man in a yellow trimmed black suit. He adjusted his glasses before speaking.

"Uh,hey guys." He waved nervously.

Clawd did a double take. "Jackson? Is that you?"

"In the flesh." Jackson smiled."It's good to see you guys again, you look great."

"You too bro." Deuce patted Jackson's shoulder. "Man, it's been years since we last saw you. You still making games?"

"I'm a programmer, I do more than make games you know." Jackson said. "But yes, I am working on the next Disgruntled Bats game right now."

"Sweet. And how's Holt doing?"

Jackson sighed. "Still rocking with his friends in the music biz. He's calmed down a little since we moved to New York... not much, but..." He shrugged. "At least he's not as bad as he used to be."

"Guess you two have got things figured out, huh?" Gil queried.

"We still disagree a lot on things, but at least we're not trying to sabotage each other's life now. It's not perfect, but we get by. Holt said he'd show up later to meet you guys once the music gets a bit more exciting..."

Jackson glanced around the hall. "By the way.. did Frankie show up at all?"

"Yeah, she's here, she went with the other ghouls to catch up." Clawd replied, grinning knowingly at his old friend. "Why do you ask? Looking to spark things up with her again?"

Jackson blushed slightly. "Well, sort of.. we kinda ended on a bad note when we left school.. I need to talk to her about it."

"I know that feeling.." Clawd sighed, a distant, uncomfortable memory of his relationship with Laura after graduation briefly surfacing.

He shook it off, thinking of a much happier memory he needed to relate to his friends. "But before you go, I need to tell you something. All of you guys."

Jackson adjusted his glasses and edged closer, alongside Deuce, Gil and Moe. "What is it?"

Clawd's smile grew even wider. "I've got something amazing to announce..."

* * *

Operetta walked to the table, a tray full of drinks in her hands. "Alright ghouls, got yer refills!"

She began handing out drinks. "Lemme see, formaldehyde on the rocks, that's Frankie, Black Velvet for Clawdeen, Bathatten for Cleo, Green Lagoon.. Lagoona, Bloody Mary for Spectra, Pink Kitty for Tora, and some beers for me and you." She handed a large bottle of Deadweiser to Abbey.

"Skol!" The yeti cheered, taking a large swig.

"I guess this is yours then." Operetta passed a glass of Crypt Cola, the only non alcoholic drink to Laura.

"Ooh, thank you." Laura reached into her purse and produced a small glass vial, containing a red liquid. She poured a small amount of the liquid into her cola, turning it dark red. Toralei's nose caught a scent of the mixture.

"Is that... blood?" She stared wide eyed at the petite vampire. "You drink blood now?!"

"Only in small amounts, and not by choice." Laura huffed. "I had a bad case of anemia a few years ago, and my doctor.." She frowned at Frankie, who grinned back. "..pretty much ordered me to get some blood in my system every day. Fortunately, she said I could mix it with some other stuff to mask the taste. Unfortunately, I decided to mix it with milkshakes and smoothies."

She pointed at her curvier hips. "You can guess where they all went."

Toralei shrugged. "Eh, you look better like that."

Laura giggled. "Clawd certainly thinks so..."

"So.." Toralei leaned closer. "You still writing those cheesy romance novels?"

Laura looked offended. "They aren't THAT cheesy!"

"Really?" Toralei raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't your first book some kind of 'You Got Mail' rip-off with vampires and werewolves?"

"Okay, they were a little cliche, but I've gotten better!" Laura pouted. "In fact, I'm writing a new book right now. It's about a vampire who gets inducted into the CIA as it's first monster spy, and sets off on an adventure to stop an evil mastermind from destroying China. There's action, drama, a little bit of romance.."

"Huh, that actually sounds pretty cool." Toralei said. "It's not as racy as your other stuff, is it?"

"Not too much.."

"Good. Maybe I could get it to read to my kid, she loves that kind of stuff.."

"Yeah, it's not too.." Laura stopped. "Wait.. did you say..."

"You have a KID?!" Clawdeen exclaimed.

Toralei rolled her eyes. "Uh yeah. Not exactly a big deal. Lots of monsters here have kids now."

"Yeah but you?" Lagoona spoke. "No offense, but we never took you as the nurturing, motherly type."

"True.. but you'd be amazed how your outlook can change when you actually have your own kid."

Toralei took her wallet from her purse and drew out a small photograph, holding it up for the others to see. It depicted her with a small werecat girl, her red hair tied up in multiple pigtails. Both of them were grinning for the camera.

"This is Nekora." She smiled proudly.

"Awww, she's so cute!" Laura squealed.

"Yeah.. sometimes.." Toralei sighed. "Most of the time however, she can be a real terror. She never sits still, she's always getting into mischief.. I dread to think what Felix and Whiska are going through."

"Who?"

"Meowlody and Purrsephone's parents. They let me stay with them and the twins when I was raising Nekora."

Cleo scanned the room. "Where are your cronies anyway?"

"Eh, they're probably with their husbands, bragging about their kids.." Toralei spotted the two werecat twins at the far end, both of them dressed in identical black dresses. They each stood by the side of two tall broad shouldered men with blond hair, also identical to each other.

"Hey, those are those two goons Lilith van Hellscream had follow her around." Lagoona recognized.

"Yep. Fred and Ted Guunderson. They're actually pretty nice guys, they just had to grow out of that whole fratboy stage.." Toralei spoke.

"Oh my Goth, I heard about those two when I started my internship." Frankie spoke up. "It was in the news! Twin sisters who fell for and married twin brothers, and both couples gave birth to triplets! It was amazing.. the chances of that happening are unbelievable."

"I still can't believe it, and I have to babysit those brats on occasion." Toralei huffed. "I'd rather teach my classes for a whole day."

"So, you teach Clawculus here, huh?" Clawdeen probed. "What's that like?"

Toralei shrugged. "Eh, it's a pretty good gig. The pay's alright, and it's always different and interesting."  
She smirked evilly. "Plus, I get to boss around thirty annoying teenagers for several hours."

The ghouls all looked at her with worried glances. Toralei laughed it off. "Oh they're not all bad! Some of them are pretty cool kids..."

"But hey, enough about me." She leaned forward to look the ghouls in the eyes. "So what have you guys been up to?"

"Uhhhhh. Errrghh." Ghoulia spoke up.

"Huh, working at the M.A.D Scientific Institute, should have figured.."

"Guuurgh, errrgh buugh." Ghoulia continued. Torelei frowned.

"You're researching what? That went way over my head."

"Mine too, and I have a medical degree." Frankie agreed.

"Uhh." Ghoulia shrugged.

"And you?" Toralei asked Frankie. "Must be pretty exciting, being a doctor and all."

"It can be. Why one time..." Frankie paused as she tried to think of a particularly interesting event from the last year.

"Erm.. actually... it's been pretty quiet this last year. Nothing really major, just the usual accidents, injuries and surgeries."

She felt dismayed for some reason. She loved her work dearly, so why couldn't she muster up enthusiasm for it right now?

"Guess it's not all action and drama like on TV, huh?" Toralei said.

"True.." Frankie sighed. She felt bad for saying it like that. As if she should have said something more interesting.

"Well, besides those riveting tales..." Cleo spoke dryly. "Things have been really exciting on my end. The magazine has been doing well, subscriptions to the diePad version have gone through the roof. Especially since we did that interview with David and Icktoria Heckham..."

She smiled as she remembered something. "And there was that Goresachi photoshoot in Scaris with the new spring line we shot before anyone else.. ohh, and coverage of the red carpet at the Grimmeys! That was fantastic. Oh! And the after party with One Resurrection!"

"Yeah yeah, we get it." Clawdeen huffed. She'd heard enough about Cleo's exploits with the rich and famous over the last year.

"And that's not all." Cleo's expression turned smug. "In a few months, I'll be heading to Devilia with my team to cover the biggest event of the year."

"What is Devilia?" Abbey asked.

"A small country somewhere is Europe, ruled almost entirely by monsters. The Crown Prince, Demitri Maximov is getting married to Countess Morrigan of Makai. A veritable who's who of the creme de la creme of the upper crust has been invited, including me!"

"How did you get an invite?" Spectra asked.

"What can I say, the Countess is an avid reader." Cleo shrugged. "It's so exciting! I'll be meeting and greeting all the major players in the Monster Federation, hanging out with royalty for the first time in years, and everyone will want to read about it! It will be the crown jewel of my career!"

She sat back, arms held out wide. "Feel free to be jealous."

Clawdeen rolled her eyes. "Of what, your enormous ego?"

"So, how does Deuce feel?" Frankie asked.

"Oh, he's excited. We've haven't gone abroad together in a long time, not since we visited his Aunt Scylla in Greece. Hopefully we'll have some time after the wedding to sightsee, Devilia is said to have some wonderful romantic spots."

"Sounds great.." Frankie replied, though there was a touch of unease in her voice.

"You're so lucky Cleo." Laura spoke up. "Clawd and I have been so busy with our jobs, we've had no chance to go on a nice vacation together. I mean, we spend a lot of nights together, which is lovely, but a change of scenery wouldn't hurt. I totally want to visit Goremont again..."

"I know what you mean." Clawdeen sighed. "I want to go somewhere with Vince for a getaway, maybe New Yuck. But with his schedule and all the work I gotta put in for the Spring collection, we've just got little to no time to spare.."

She looked at Lagoona. "Lucky you don't have that problem. You and Gil get to go to all these exotic locations. Skull Shores, Australia, Thailand..."

"Hey, it's not like we laze about in the surf all day!" Lagoona frowned. "We're busy the moment we're sent in. If we're not cleaning up coasts or searching for research specimens, we're writing up reports and holding presentations and courses to educate other people about what we do. Gil and I have had hardly any time for ourselves."

"Sorry.." Clawdeen apologized. "I guess I forgot how much work it takes to look after the planet."

"Yeah... but you know what they say, it doesn't feel like work when it's something you love. All the work Gil and I have done.. I really feel like we've made a difference, even a small one. And it's really helped out relationship. We've become closer these last few years, especially when we do get a chance to have time to ourselves."

She smirked. "Like, we went on a treasure hunting expedition a few weeks back, found a nice little alcove 200 feet below the sea, and well..."

She blushed slightly, letting everyone know exactly what had happened in that alcove. "In the past Gil would have never dared do something like that. He'd be shaking like a jellyfish and worrying about getting eaten. Nowadays..." She giggled.

"Well, it's great that he's broadened his horizons, so to speak." Spectra chuckled.

"Still, it's a shame you have to travel so much. We've really missed having you guys around." Frankie said.

"You won't have to worry about that soon. ORCA are setting up a new research center and marine wildlife sanctuary in Astoria Bay near here, and they've asked us to help set it up and run it. It will be specially designed to look after and research some of the more exotic creatures which swim down there from Gloom Beach."

"Wow, that sounds great."

"Well, you can thank our local governor and her ecology platform for that." Lagoona glanced over to look at Venus McFlytrap, who looked like a completely different monster with her full head of hair and immaculate business suit.

"It's a really great opportunity for us, plus it means we get to spend more time in Salem, closer to our families and you ghouls." She flashed a sad smile. "Traveling around the world is fantastic and all, but we've really missed being able to spend time with the people we love face to face. I mean, look at all the stuff we've missed out on. We weren't there when Clawdeen opened her shop, or when Ivan was born.."

She looked at Ghoulia. "And I'm really stewed that we weren't able to come to your wedding. I saw the video you sent us, you looked beautiful."

"Ehhhh!" Ghoulia smiled.

"Still, I wish I'd been there. It was a fantastic ceremony. In fact..."

Lagoona held out her right hand, which she had been holding clasped with her other one throughout the conversation, to reveal a large ring with a shining white pearl embedded in it.

"I was hoping you could give me a few ideas for my wedding."

Simultaneously her friends all squealed loudly.

"Ohmighoul! Gil proposed!"

"Wow.. took his damn time.."

"By Ra, that ring's gorgeous!"

"Congratulations!"

"Thanks.." Lagoona grinned brightly.

"That is so wonderful Lagoona!" Laura gushed. Her happy expression fell suddenly. "Oh, but.. oh, this puts me in a spot."

"Why? What's up?"

"Well, I had this really amazing news to tell everyone.." Laura looked bashful. "But after hearing about your engagement.. the last thing I want to do is steal your thunder."

Lagoona chuckled. "I think there's enough thunder for all of us to go around. Go on love, tell us your news."

"Okay!" Laura shot to her feet, everyone's eyes on her. A nervous smile plastered her face.  
"Well.. so, I was feeling a little off while on my last book tour in Screattle, so Clawd and I went to a local doctor there and.."

She paused for dramatic effect, before finally bursting out. "I'm pregnant!"

Once again, everyone simultaneously squealed.

"Oh my.. that's wonderful!" Frankie hopped up and hugged her.

"Congratulations!" Lagoona cheered. "How far along are you?"

"Oh thank you.." Laura's eyes were teary. "It was such a surprise, the doctor told me I was about a month or so along. I wasn't even aware until I started feeling a little nauseous."

Clawdeen stepped up to hug her sister-in-law. "I'm so happy for you guys.. but man, now I got another niece or nephew to buy presents for. My family is gonna bankrupt me."

Laura giggled. "We'll try not to spoil her.. or him too much."

"This is joyous news!" Abbey raised her arms. "You know what we must do? We must have knocking up party!"

"Excuse me?"

"Is tradition is my village. When someone is with child, we throw huge party to celebrate new life." She grabbed Laura's shoulders and pointed towards the bar. "Come, we already have music, we must get more drinks!"

"Sounds like my kind of celebration!" Toralei grinned.

"Erm, I don't think I should be drinking alcohol in my condition.." Laura said.

"No problem. You will drink mead instead! They serve mead here, right?"

"No wait.." Before she could protest, Abbey was carrying her toward the bar, Toralei and Operetta following close behind. The other ghouls chuckled at the sight of the protesting vampire.

Frankie's laughs were quieter than the others though. She was lost in thought, thinking about her life.

* * *

Sometime later, the ambient music was replaced by more uptempo dance songs, and many of the guests were on the dance floor, dancing alone or with another. Frankie stood near their table, sipping from a drink as she watched her friends.

Laura and Clawd, Gil and Lagoona, and Ghoulia and Moe were currently jiving away on the dance floor. Abbey sat at the table, happily swigging away at a large jug of beer while singing a loud Yetish shanty with Toralei and Operetta. Clawdeen and Cleo were chatting away about fashion, occasionally laughing at each others jokes. Deuce and Vince sat near their loves, having a conversation of their own. Spectra floated overhead, typing away on a tablet.

Her friends were all here, together and happy with their lives and each other. So why did she feel so blue?

This strange feeling had come over her ever since the others had told their stories. Was it jealousy? It couldn't be that, she'd never felt happier or prouder of her friends. They had all worked hard to achieve their goals, just as she had.

So why did thinking about her life give her this cold feeling inside?

"Hey Jeckyll!" A loud voice boomed out. She turned to see Manny Taur standing before a lanky man in a suit. She did a double take when she realized it was Jackson. He had actually come!

"I've been looking for you!" Manny boomed, a frown set on his face.

"Y..you have?" Jackson replied nervously. Frankie wondered if she would have to step between them.

"Yeah, to tell you this!" And before Jackson could react, Manny had his broad arms wrapped around him. Tears fell from the minotaur's eyes.

"I'm sorry man! All that crap I put you through in school.. I was going through some bad stuff in my life, and I was always pissed off and.." He sniffled. "Can you ever forgive me?!"

"Um.. sure Manny." Jackson replied humbly.

Manny looked delighted, and hugged Jackson once again. "Thanks man! If there's anything I can do to make it up to you, I'm your monster."

Jackson just smiled and gave Manny a warm handshake. The minotaur walked back to his partner, giving Frankie a chance to approach him.

"Jackson.. hi."

Jackson audibly gasped as he looked at her. "Frankie! Wow.. you look incredible."

Frankie felt her cheeks heat up at the compliment. "Thanks.. you look great yourself."

He certainly did. His lanky frame had filled out with a bit of muscle over the years, and he looked quite dashing in his expensive looking suit. But the dorky, yet kind expression on his face was still there, along with those deep blue eyes.

"It's great to see you again. I must admit, I was a little worried you wouldn't show up."

"Hey, I didn't hate the school that much!" Jackson replied. "Sure, this place drove me up the bend sometimes, but some of my best memories are also here."

"Mine too.." She smiled. "A lot of great things happened here.."

"Including the first time we met." Jackson added. Frankie blushed even harder as the memory of their first meeting rushed through her mind. Was he flirting with her?  
The music suddenly shifted to a slower R&b tune. She noticed a few couples were closing together for a slow dance, including Draculaura and Clawd.

"Care to dance?" Jackson extended a hand toward her.

"S..sure!"

They stepped towards each other, Jackson taking her hands and leading her in to a gentle shuffle around the dance floor.  
Several moments passed in comfortable silence, though Frankie felt herself growing more excited and anxious at the same time. It felt wonderful to be dancing with the man.. men she had cared so much about in school once again, bur she knew one of them would have to bring up the past eventually.

"This takes me back.." Jackson spoke softly after a while. "Reminds me of when we danced at the prom."

"Yeah.. that was a wonderful night.." Frankie sighed. "Though it was a shame you had to keep skipping out so Holt could dance with Operetta."

"Yeah.." He frowned in annoyance. "I wouldn't have minded so much if he had at least told me about Operetta. Every time the music switched I kept waking up in her arms instead of yours."

"And boy was she mad when she found out why Holt kept leaving her so you could dance with me." Frankie chuckled.

"I got that when she started flinging drinks at us."

They both laughed at the memory, though Jackson didn't seem quite as amused.

"..the day after wasn't so great though."

Frankie nodded. That had been the day when they had decided to stop dating and remain friends, two weeks before they graduated and Jackson left town for college. It had been an amicable split, with no hurt feelings between them... just a lot of regret.

"I know... I felt so bad about breaking up after that night. We were both so upset.." Frankie sighed. "I should have tried harder to keep us together, find a way all three of us could be happy."

Jackson held her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Hey, none of it was your fault. It was me.. us. After that night, Holt and I realized we would only keep hurting you if we kept trying to sabotage each other's lives. We had to really figure out a way to live together without driving each other up the wall."

"And have you?"

"More or less. First thing we did was agree to a schedule so we could both have time to ourselves, and to promise not to intrude into the others life unless it's important. Fortunately we've got flexible schedules at our jobs, so he can work without dragging me away from my job and visa versa. I do my programming some days, he produces music during the others. As long as we keep talking to each other and stick to our schedules, we get by alright."

He sighed. "Though sometimes he spends a little too much time hanging out with those musician friends of his."

"He's a producer, surely he has to mingle with people he works with."

"Yeah fine. But did he really need to spend an entire night partying with Catty Noir and her entourage when I needed to hold a presentation in the morning?"

Frankie chuckled again. "Other than that, I guess you guys have got everything sorted out."

"I guess so.." Jackson smiled, and to Frankie it was one of the most heartwarming things she had ever seen. She'd seen Jackson and Holt go through a lot of grief and confusion over their dual nature, Jackson especially. She had tried her hardest to accommodate the both of them during their brief time dating, but ultimately learning to co-exist was something they would have to do themselves.

And they had finally achieved it. And maybe now, she could finally have the relationship they had never had back in high school.  
If nothing else, it would be nice to truly reconnect with him after so long.

Frankie gulped. It had been a very, very long time since she had asked someone out on a date, and she just prayed she didn't spark out and say something stupid.  
"Jackson.." She spoke carefully. "I'd love to hear more about what you and Holt have been doing. Would you like to.. meet for lunch tomorrow and catch up?"

Jackson's eyes widened. "Oh.. well, sure, I've love to catch up.."

Frankie mentally jumped for joy. He said yes!

"But it would have to be another time." Jackson continued.

"Oh?"

"Yes, you see tomorrow I'm..."

It was at that moment that the DJ decided to switch from a r&b song to some loud techno dance beat by Skullex. Monsters took to the dance floor as Jackson covered his ears.

"Ah man! Seriously?!" A flash of flame washed over him, and he was replaced by Holt Hyde, wearing a white version of Jackson's suit.

"Hoo, finally! I get a chance to strut my stuff!" He raised his arms in the air. "Hey everybody! Nice to see y'all! You miss me?!"

A few people clapped and cheered, others just glanced at him, rolled their eyes and went right back to what they were doing.

Holt's face fell. "Huh. Guess I was away longer than I thought."

He turned back to Frankie, his wide grin returning. "Wow.. Frankie Fine, looking even finer than ever."

Frankie blushed a little. "And you're still a big flirt."

"Hey, just calling it like I see it." Holt smiled. "Guess Jackson filled you in on what we've been up to."

"Some of it. He certainly had some tales to tell about your exploits." Frankie replied, humour in her voice.  
"Ah, he makes it sound worse than is is." Holt waved off. "I'm in the music biz, those guys love to party. Who am I to say no? Helps me keep the people I work with close. And I only broke from the schedule like, twice."

"It's hard to picture you keeping a schedule at all." Frankie said. "I remember you were late to half your classes."

"Yeah, but then we went to college, and I found out lecturers reallllly frown on that kind of thing. Plus having to share a home with Jackson and working meant having to learn a bit of discipline."

He shrugged. "But hey, I got no complaints. We still argue from time to time, but life is better than ever! We got jobs we love, a sweet apartment and a fine ghoulfriend!"

"I know.. I'm so proud of you guys." Frankie smiled.

Then his words sunk in. "Wait.. ghoulfriend?"

"Oh, didn't Jack say? Sometime after we settled in New York we met Clair. You remember Clair, right? From that whole bust up at Halloween?"

She certainly hadn't forgotten Clair, the human who had helped them save the school so long ago. but she hadn't kept track of her. Clair had left Salem for college about the same time she had.

"Yeah, we bumped into each other. She runs a small clothes store. We, well Jackson mostly, started hanging out and hey, before we know it, we're dating."

"What.. all three of you?" Frankie spoke, stunned.

Holt looked quite proud. "For sure. It took us a while to figure out a way we could all spend time together, but it's working pretty well so far. And Clair is totally cool with it. She's been really supportive of both of us."

A lewd grin crossed his face. "And she knows how to 'share the love' if you know what I mean."

"Um.. yeah." Frankie said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

"But seriously, being with Clair is one of the best things to ever happen to us." Holt looked off in the distance, a wistful look in his eyes. "I think this could be something serious, you know? Like, moving in together serious."

Frankie struggled to answer, a heavy feeling in her heart had suddenly taken hold.

"That's... wonderful. I hope it works out for you."

"Yeah. For both of us."

He looked at her again. "Hey, are you okay? You look a little upset."

Frankie forced back a smile. "Yeah yeah! I'm fine, just thinking."

"You sure?" Holt asked, concerned.

"Yes, really." Frankie covered. "Er, give me a moment, I think I see someone.."

She turned away, walking quickly as she could without looking like she was running away.  
She didn't feel fine at all.

* * *

The night went on, with much revelry, camaraderie and dancing spent among the visiting former students. But even creatures of the night could only stay up so long. It was past midnight when the guests begin to file out.

"Goodbye everyone, thanks for coming!" Cleo bade farewell to each monster as they left the hall. "Make sure to catch the next issue of _Eternal Ghoul_, I'll be covering the reunion in it!"

"Not if I beat you to it." Spectra replied smugly as she floated away. Cleo glared at her.

Deuce approached her, supporting a rather sozzled Heath in his arms. "Hey babe, you mind driving yourself back home? I gotta get Heath back safely, he had a little too much to drink."

"..s`not fair no one wants to date me. Heath slurred unhappily. "I'm an officer of the law, I'm a good catch..."

"If you must." Cleo huffed. "Honestly, this guy is responsible for our safety?"

"Feel sorry for Heath." Abbey commented as she watched Deuce pile Heath into a taxi. "He tried so hard to find date. Never seen anyone hit on so many ghouls before."

Clawdeen rolled her eyes. "The fact he struck out with every single one should have been a hint to quit when he was ahead."

"He was getting pretty desperate near the end." Lagoona chimed in. "He was claiming he'd taken down an entire army of drug dealing demon ninjas."

"Heath like old yak trying to outdo tractor on farm. Needs to stop trying so hard and act like himself more." Abbey sighed. "Foolerly like that reason we broke up in first place."

"Well, maybe he'll learn... one day." Lagoona sighed.

Abbey then walked over to Shiver, the huge mammoth sitting patiently in the parking lot. She clambered up onto his back.

"You need lift back to hotel before I head to mountain?"

Lagoona paled at the sight of the hairy beast. "Er.. thanks love, but I think Gil and I will walk back..."

"This was such a wonderful night." Laura said as she cuddled up against Clawd. "Thanks for throwing this party, Cleo. It was so fangtastic to see everyone again."

"My pleasure. It was delightful to see how everyone was doing after graduation."

"Especially now you know you're doing better than everyone else, right?" Toralei snuck up behind Cleo, smirking.

"Oh, how I've missed that blunt wit of yours." Cleo rolled her eyes.

Toralei checked her watch. "Damn, I gotta get back and put Nekora to bed."

"Wow... scary to think I'll be doing that in a few months." Laura giggled.

"Enjoy those months while you can, shorty. Trust me, raising a kid is no catwalk."

The werecat hailed a taxi. "It was nice to see you ghouls again, seriously."

"Yeah.. it was really great to see you again too." Frankie admitted.

Toralei gave the ghouls a grateful smile as she got into her taxi.

"Man, I still can't believe it." Clawdeen spoke as she watched the taxi drive away. "Who'd have thought Toralei would have become nice? Well, nicer than she usually was."

Vince wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Well it happens. People grow up, stuff happens to them, and they change from the experience. I know what it's like, trust me."

Clawdeen looked at her lover curiously. "Oh, and what do you mean by that?"

Vince looked wary for a moment. "Er... let's just say I was very different when I was a kid. I doubt you would have recognized me."

"Hmmm." Clawdeen snuggled up against him. "One of these days you have to tell me about this childhood of yours."

"Yeah.. One day." Vince replied absently.

"Still, you're quite right." Laura spoke. "We're always changing, even if we think we're not. And before you know it, your life is completely different."

"Yeah... different.." Frankie spoke quietly, lost in thought.

* * *

After many warm hugs and promises to meet again to all her ghoulfriends, Frankie returned to her car and drove back to the small single story house she called home. The house was silent as she entered, even her beloved dog Watzit was fast asleep. The lack of noise and activity only served to make the melancholy she felt even worse.

It was times like this she wished her parents are still around. Her father had recently be chosen to be the head of Internal Medicine at Union Hospital, a new hospital on the outskirts of Salem which catered to both monsters and humans. With his new responsibilities, Viktor and his wife Viveka had decided to move to a new home situated nearer the woods, which brought them closer to their respective workplaces. It was the dream home they had always wanted, and Frankie was supportive of their move. But it meant she saw less of them, and it was times like this, when she felt alone and discontent, that she wished they were closer so she could ask for their advice.

She wasn't even sure why she felt like this. She'd had a great time at the reunion, and had felt nothing but pride for her friends when she had heard of how their lives had turned out. But when she thought about how her friend's lives had changed, and how her own life had turned out, she felt this feeling of.. emptiness within her.

Why? She loved her work at Salem General, she had great friends and close family, she..  
Surely that wasn't all she had in her life?  
She poured herself a quick drink of cold formadahyde, them moved to to her bookshelf to pull out a certain tome. It was a large scrapbook containing several photographs taken by her and her friends over the years.  
Sitting down on the couch, she began flipping through the pages, glancing at pictures of her and her ghoulfriends at various memorable events from her school days.

The joint Halloween dance with New Salem High, the class president election, the Mashional fearleading competition where they had won for a second year.. She paused when she found a large picture of her and her other ghoulfriends in their graduation robes from ten years ago. Next to it was a picture of the ghouls wishing her goodbye on her move to Germany. More pictures over the page depicted her friends congratulating her on completing her residency, and helping her move into her house. A smile crossed her face as she recalled those days. She had felt so grateful to be able to experience all of those important milestones with her loved ones.

But as she looked at the photos taken after that time, she noticed that they were all about events from her friends lives. There was the grand opening of Clawdeen`s boutique, the launch party of Cleo`s magazine, the ghouls trip to the Scarier Reef to help Lagoona on her first research trip.. and everything else that had happened afterwards.

There were parties, from Cleo`s lavish celebrity shindigs to intimate cosy dinner parties with Laura and Clawd. There were big events like Operetta performing her music live in town, Ghoulia unveiling her latest invention for translating zombie speech, and traveling to the mountains to see Abbey and her newborn son.

There were weddings. Cleo and Deuce`s ridiculously extravagant ceremony, Laura and Clawd`s wedding at her father's summer castle in Goremont, Abbey's traditional wedding in the mountains where everyone had to wear yak fur coats, Hoodude and Erika's ceremony where she had attended as Mother of the Groom, and of course, Ghoulia and Moe's recent wedding.

And tonight her friends had revealed more happy events in their lives, with Laura's pregnancy and the revelation that Toralei was a mother forefront in her mind. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that was the problem.

Everyone had such amazing, exciting things happening to them. Family, relationships, careers...

Except her.

Ever since she had finished her residency and become a full doctor, working in medicine had become her whole life. Most of her time was spent at the hospital managing her patients or writing up journals and essays. Aside from days off and spending what free time she had with her ghoulfriends, her personal life was virtually nonexistant.

She sat down, trembling as her mind absorbed this realization.  
She loved her job. She loved helping people in need, and couldn't imagine doing anything else. But what had she sacrificed in the process? Everyone around her was moving to to new things, starting families..

She didn't have anything like that. Not even a relationship with someone. The last time she had been on a date was with some gargoyle from university she could barely remember. After that, relationships had gone out the window once she returned to Salem.

She sighed miserably. The only true relationships she had ever had where her dates with Jackson and Holt, and that brief infatuation with Andy Beast. Sure, they hadn't been perfect, but those times spent with those boys were among the happiest she has ever had.

And now Jackson and Holt were with Clair, and Andy hadn't been seen in years, not since he had left Salem to discover his missing past.  
What chance did she have of ever experiencing a relationship like that again?

A part of her knew it wasn't necessary. She had a good life, she didn't need a man by the side to complete it.  
But she did want someone, she realized. Someone to come home to, someone to spend her days with, someone to teach and learn from. Not just a friend or parent.. someone closer than that.

And now it seemed she'd missed her chance to have what everyone else had.

A sense of crushing loneliness came over her, and she felt tears falling from her eyes.  
She wasn't sure how long she spent just sitting there, quietly sobbing, but it felt like forever. She felt so numb, the prospect of being alone more frightening than any of the threats she had encountered in her adventures at school.

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity in the dark, she found the strength to pick up her scrapbook and stand up. She felt tired, and since she had arranged to work a late shift tomorrow she could sleep in. Maybe a good, long sleep and power recharge would improve her mood. She doubted it though, things would still be the same when she awoke.

She moved back to the bookshelf to replace the scrapbook, wiping her eyes with a free hand. As she did, her gaze came upon the rest of her bookshelf, specifically the books next to the space where the scrapbook lived.

They were mostly large medical books, including a couple of large volumes dedicated to the upkeep of individual limbs. She look at them, then back at at scrapbook, thinking of the pictures of her friends and their new lives.

And then suddenly, it hit her.

An idea. No, THE Idea. The biggest Idea ever to cross her mind.

It was at once the craziest thing she had ever thought, and yet it was also the most logical solution to her problem. As she rolled it over it her head, the more it seemed to make sense. It was something she had never considered wanting before, but the more she thought about it, the more she wanted it.

She shook her head, letting rationality take hold. She wasn't serious, right? There was no way she could actually do this? Surely the level of skill involved, not to mention the time and money needed, and the investment needed afterwards.. could she really do it?

Curiosity gripped her. There was only one way to find out.

She pulled out some medical books and dropped them on her desk, pausing to switch on her laptop before returning to grab a couple more. As she flipped through one tome to find an article on organ transplants, she moved to a cupboard to find some old bills..

She went back and forth like this for some time, until she was finally sat before the laptop, surrounded by dozens of books, magazines and slips of paper.

Medical journals describing methods for attaching and harvesting organs and limbs. Bills and receipts for all her recent expenses and how they affected her income. Issues of Good Tombkeeping open on articles about new families. Books on psychology and pediatrics.

And two large, leather bound journals, considered two of the most priceless items owned by the Stein family, and entrusted to her by her father when she left for her studies in Germany so long ago.

One was an old book, its pages yellowed and fragile with age, containing the original notes, theories and diagrams written by her 'great grandfather' Victor Frankenstein when he had been creating his first being. The later pages of the journal had been maintained by the creature Frankenstein had created, her grandfather Deucalion, as he lived his life seeking redemption and eventually went on to create her father.  
The other book was far newer, and was filled from start to finish with all of the research and descriptions her father had written when he and her mother had created her.

She studied all of this information, glancing from one article to the next, studying facts and copying them down on a spreadsheet on her laptop, which had browser windows open to even more articles. Numbers and knowledge were all compared, added and subtracted, reasoned and compromised.

Until finally, almost at the crack of dawn, she came to a conclusion.  
She could do it.

It would take a lot of time and resources, but she had enough money in the bank to afford the needed items, and she could negotiate with Salem General to change around her shifts to give her enough time during the day. It would take a long time to complete, months at most, and she would need to find a large space to put everything in...

But she could actually do it.

And she wanted to do it. More than anything she had ever wanted in her life.

For the first time that night, a bright smile crossed her face. She felt giddy and excited, the prospect of the work ahead of the her, and the wonderful result it would bring lifting her up.  
She could hardly wait to begin.

Sleep beckoned however, and after taking a few minutes to hug Watzit and take him for a walk, she headed to bed.  
Her happy smile remained as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

A heavy curtain of rain was falling over the city of Fanghai, the dark clouds blocking much of the light and casting a gloomy grey pallor on the usually vibrant streets.

Such days were both a blessing and a curse for Jinafire. While the rainfall and general quiet atmosphere provided a tranquil environment for comtemplation or creating a new piece of art, it was annoying that she could not take her students out onto the temple's large courtyard for a calligraphy lesson, or practice her martial arts. Such activities always felt better when you could do it in the fresh air of the mountains overlooking the city

She refocused her attention to the small clay statue she was working on, breathing out a thin jet of flame from her mouth to more accurately shape the soft material. She cut the flame off when she heard a soft knocking at the door.

"Please enter."

The door slid open, and a young dragonman entered, kneeling respectfully before her.

"Master Long, I apologize for interrupting you."

"It's quite alright. What's troubling you Qui-lang?"

"Well, I don't want to sound like a nuisance.." Qui-lang took a breath. "But you have to talk to that foreigner. He's driving us crazy."

"Hmm?" Jinafire raised an eyebrow. She knew of the person Qui-lang spoke off. He was a traveller who had journeyed long and far across several countries, and had sought refuge after finding himself in Fanghai with no money or place to stay. Jinafire was happy to let him stay in one of the temple's spare rooms, and he was eager to repay her kindness by helping out with the various odd jobs and repairs the temple needed.

"I appreciate all the help he's given us, but lately he's been fixing stuff which didn't need to be fixed." Qui-lang continued. "The day before last, he was scrubbing the walls of the calligraphy classroom, even though we had cleaned it already. Then he rearranged every single tool in the metallurgy room. It took us ages to find everything we needed. Last night he came in at the dead of night to do all our laundry. And right now he's outside, banging away on the roof of our dorm to fix some tiles."

"In this weather?" Jinafire was surprised. She wouldn't even make her worst behaved student perform labour on a night like this.

"None of us can concentrate with all this racket he's making. I'm worried he's either going to hurt himself, or someone is going to snap and take it out on him."

Jinafire nodded in agreement. While she respected their guest's work ethic, this need to keep busy seemed to be a symptom of something else.

"I shall certainly talk to him about it. Thank you for bringing it to my attention."

She bowed to Qui-lang and exited the room, pausing to grab an umbrella from a closet before she stepped outside the cosy confines of the temple into the downpour outside.

She only had to walk across the courtyard to find their guest perched on a ladder outside the student's dormitory, hammering away at the rooftiles seemingly unperturbed by the rain.

He was a tall monster, the raincoat he wore doing little to hide his broad shoulders and muscular arms. As he noticed her presence, he turned his head to glance at her, revealing a handsome face framed with a deep purple beard, and two large antlers protruding from the top of his head.

"Master Long. Can I help you?" He asked politely.

"I'm curious as to why you're out here in this dreadful weather."

"Oh! Well, I noticed a few tiles were loose, and I thought I'd better replace them before they slipped off. I'm sorry, should I have cleared it with you first?"

"No, I'm glad you spotted it Andy. Though, you didn't have to do it right now. You could have waited until this weather passed."

Andy rubbed his head sheepishly. "Well, I thought it was best to get it fixed as soon as possible, and I didn't have anything else to do.."

"Yes, I gathered." She replied dryly. "Andy, you are our guest here, not our servant. I do appreciate you going to all this trouble for us, but there is really no need to do so."

"I just want to show my gratitude for letting me stay here."

"Is that the only reason?" Jinafire frowned. "This constant need to find something to do.. Is there something troubling you?"

Andy tried to reply, but he could think of no passable answer, and looked at her with a forlorn expression.  
"Would you like to talk about it?"

Moments later they were sat in Jinafire's study, Andy gratefully sipping from a cup of hot green tea.

"It's just..." Andy took a deep breath. "For a while now, I've been unsure as to what I'm meant to do with my life. I left school and set out to find out more about myself. I wanted to find out who I was, if I had any family, if there were more monsters like me. And so I started traveling."

He stared out of the window. "It's been ten years since then. I've traveled to virtually every country in the Monster Federation, and a few places monsters don't normally go. I've seen some amazing sights, met some great people and had a few adventures. But now.. I don't know where to go from here."

He sighed. "I haven't found any leads about what kind of monster I am for ages. I still don't know about any other family I might have. And lately, I've been thinking that I could live without knowing about my past. That I could stop looking, and I would have no regrets about it. But without that driving me on, what am I meant to do?"

"You feel lost." Jinafire spoke.

"Huh... that sounds about right." Andy huffed. "I just want to find something to live my life for. Not just traveling around. I want something.. meaningful, you know. To do more than just sightseeing and meeting people only to leave them to go somewhere else. But I just... I just don't know where to go, or even what I'm looking for."

There was silence, save for the patter of the rain outside. Andy continued staring out the window, as if hoping to divine an answer from the falling water.

"My grandfather once told me this." Jinafire spoke up. "Even the highest birds in the sky must eventally come down to their roosts to rest."

Andy's brows furrowed. "Er.. I'm not sure what that means."

"You have spent most of your life on a journey, seeking out new experiences and exploring as much of this world as possible. It is a noble pursuit, and it has taught you many things. But even the most verdant traveller cannot keep walking through the world, merely observing. A time comes when we must plant our feet, become a part of the world around us, and share our being with the people around us, especially those we care about." Jinafire explained. "Perhaps, the time has come to find a place you can call home."

"Home..." Andy looked thoughtful. "That's a word I haven't thought about in a while... but you might be right. I like travelling, but it gets pretty lonely going from place to place. I haven't really gotten close to anyone in a long time... though how do I find somewhere to call home?"

"Well, you are always welcome to make your home here."

Andy shook his head. "No disrespect Master, but I don't think a life of quiet meditation is one for me."

Jinafire merely smiled. "It is alright, our way is not the path for everyone."

"Then,what do you think I should go?"

"Only you can answer that question, Andy. But if you are having trouble finding that direction, I know of a way which may help."

Andy nodded his assent. Jinafire moved to a drawer in the corner of the room used to store her art supplies, and took out a small lump of clay.

"I want you to close your eyes, and mold this into something."

"Um.. okay. Anything in particular?"

"Don't think about what to make. Don't concentrate on moving your hands. You must create this object not with your mind, but with your heart."

"My... heart?"

Jinafire nodded. "Think about every experience you have had, everything you have seen, heard and felt in your life. Those memories shape and define us. Let those memories you hold in your heart guide you..."

"Okay..." Andy murmured. He wasn't quite sure how this would help,but it was worth a shot.

He closed his eyes and fell silent, blocking out as much outside noise as he could. Moments passed until only the sound of his breathing could be heard.

In his minds eye he could see the various places he had visited in his travels. Exploring the streets of New Yuck, scaling the mountains of the Grimilayas, helping with relief efforts for struggling villages in Africa, witnessing the Day of the Dead in Hexico. He had met dozens of monsters in his journey. Families, fellow travellers, locals with a wealth of life stories.

But among all of the places he could remember, there was one place which kept popping back to the forefront. The first place he had visited, the second place he had called home after Skull Shores.

It was only a small town, but it had given him so much. He had received hope that he could live a normal life, a chance to make something of himself, and friends who had treated him as an equal for the first time in his life.

And there had been one in particular, a ghoul with incredible beauty both inside and out. Who had opened her heart and home to him, spurring him to finally leave that cursed island and live his life.

He thought of her sometimes, but now it seemed the memories were stronger than ever. The first time they had gone on a date. The joy of spending time with her as they studied together. The guilt he had felt when he had left on his travels with only a brief goodbye.

He'd left because he felt the town was too small, and offered no clues to his past. But now he wanted to see that town.. and that ghoul again, more than ever.

"Do you have it?" Jinafire's voice whispered.

The darkness faded as he opened his eyes, revealing Jinafire staring at him with a triumphant expression. She indicated the clay in his hands. He looked down at it with surprise, he could barely remember his hands molding it at all.

It was crude and misshapen, but he could recognize the shape.  
It was the shape of a steel bolt.

A smile crossed his face as he realized what this meant.

He looked back up at Jinafire. "Master Long, are there any newspapers with classified ads around here?"

"I'm certain one of the students would have one. Why do you ask?"

"I think I know where I'm meant to go." He stood up. "But if I'm going to get there, I'm going to need some money for the trip.. and for a place to stay."

He bowed respectfully. "Thank you Master."

Jinafire smiled. "I wish you the best of luck."

Andy stepped out, walking back through the courtyard on his way to the student's rooms, back out in the rain. He barely noticed it, his mind focused on this new goal he had set for himself.  
It would take some time, but he would return to Salem, and see Frankie again.

END OF CHAPTER ONE

* * *

Author notes

1: Apologies to any fans of certain pairings, but not all pairings as presented in the webisodes/movies will be present in this story. Realistically, not every couple who met in high school would still be together several years down the line.

2: There are a few mentions of characters from other monster based cartoons/movies in this chapter and future chapters. Can you spot them.


	2. The Graduates

Monster Life

By Toby Danger

_Monster High is copyright of Mattel. All other characters mentioned are copyright of their original creators_

* * *

Chapter 2: The Graduates

_Greetings Ghouls and Guys. Hope you all had a fun weekend. Mine was spent delving into the past and looking to the future as I attended the Class of 2013 Reunion held at Monster High._

_Being my graduating year, I still have fond memories of the many adventures, disasters and stories which occurred during that time. I even got to cover some of them in the earliest incarnation of this blog. In all of these events, I got to meet an amazing bunch of monsters. _

_Some become close friends and still are to this day, some are a bit more distant, and some were simply intolerable, but that's a different story. Meeting all of these students, now grown up and living their own lives, some with children of their own, it was amazing to hear about how much their lives have changed in the last ten years._

_For any of the Class of 2013 wondering what happened to their friends, or missed someone at the reunion, allow me to fill you in on where many of Monster High's most well known students ended up._

* * *

_One of the most infamous students was Frankie Stein, the daughter of Salem's top local medical professional Dr Stein. Despite entering school at the tender age of fifteen days, Frankie nevertheless threw herself into the student life, getting involved in many activities such as fearleading, and somehow getting mixed up in major events like the great Halloween revival of 2012 and the first all-female Skulltimate Roller Maze team. Frankie's determination and courage served her well in her adult years, as she followed in her parent's footsteps and became a doctor herself, graduating from the Ingolstadt Academy of Monster Medicine. Taking over her father's position at Salem General Hospital after he departed to run a brand new clinic for humans and monsters, Frankie has been taking care of Salem's sick and wounded for three years now, and many happy patients attest to her lovely bedside manner and brilliant surgical skills._

Frankie checked the chart Nurse Duzer had given her. Her patient was a young vampire (well, young by vampire standards, being 100 years old) who had lost control of his motorcycle and taken a spill into some roadside cones. While an infusion of blood had helped him recover from his skin wounds, there was one injury that needed particular care...

"Good morning Mr Stoker."

The pale, leather clad vampire smirked at her. "Eyyy, I told you to call me Vinnie, doc. I can't stand that 'Mr' stuff, makes me sound like my old man."

Frankie chuckled. "Alright, Vinnie. Your wounds are healing up nicely, but I want to make sure your wing is healing properly. Have you been resting it like I asked?"

"Sure thing." Vinnie raised his arm to reveal a thin membrane of skin, much like a bat's wing, attached to his the underside of his arms. A row of stitches ran down one wing.

"I've been changing the dressing regularly, like you said."

Frankie leaned in and examined the wing gently. "Yes, it's looking good. Another week of rest, and I think you'll be able to use it again."

"Sounds great doc." He flashed a toothy smile at her. "Kind of a shame though. I'm gonna miss visiting you for all these checkups..."

"Well Ah'm glad!" A voice with a Southern accent cried out. Frankie turned to see Vinnie's wife, a green skinned banshee with long dark hair glaring angrily at Vinnie. "Ah'm gettin' mighty sick of you dodging out of the chores!"

"Whoa, Blanche, baby!" Vinnie raised his hands. "You know I gotta rest the wing.."

"Yeah, the wing. Your arm's just fine! Ain't nothing stopping you from helping with the dishes! And you need to clear those dirty bike parts out of the living room..."

Vinnie looked even paler than usual as he withstood his wife's rant. Frankie smiled to herself.  
There was never a dull moment in this job.

* * *

_Despite being one of the shortest members of the student body, Laura Dracula, aka Draculaura, was undoubtedly one of the most eager to be heard, renowned for her outgoing personality, occasional crybaby moments and complete rejection of traditional vampire tropes. Shortly after graduating, Laura decided to expand upon her hobby of writing stories and began publishing her work in teen magazines. But it was her first romance novel, Under the Crimson Moon, which really launched her career into the stratosphere. Today, she is a hugely successful author with several books in her name, including stories for teens and adults alike, and with several published articles in magazines. Also, after a rather tumultuous relationship, she married her first true love, Clawd Wolf._

_Speaking of Clawd, the legendary captain of the football team who helped both the football and casketball teams to glory in the regional championships, was tipped to become a great sports success after he was accepted into the National Monster Football League team the Washington Wraiths._  
_But the dream was cut short after only a year when he was injured in a terrible bus accident. Claws turned disaster into success though, using the time during his recuperation to start up a company designing special sports shoes for different monster species. Today, `Beastie` shoes are one of the most popular new brands trending today. Time away from sports also helped him rekindle his romance with Draculaura. The two are still happily married, and expecting the birth of their first child._

Clawd smiled as he made the final pencil stroke on the picture before him. With all of the work involved with the business end of Beastie Shoes, it was nice that he had a chance to design something once again. He gathered up his sketches, eager to show them to Laura.  
He found his wife in the study, frantically typing on her laptop with her eyes locked on the screen in fierce determination. Several bottles of sugary cola littered her desk.

"Hey sweetie. I got something to show you..."

"Can it wait?!" She snapped at him, glancing angrily at him for a moment.  
Her expression softened. "Oh I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I've just got so much work to do before the end of next week."

"Is this about 'Illonka the Dark Widow'?"

"No, that's almost finished. I've got to write three short stories, two articles for the Monster Now! blog, and I have to edit a script for that TV show 'Beverly Hills Monsters'.

Clawd raised an eyebrow. "Why all the extra gigs? You don't normally do these things on the side."

"Duh, because we have a baby on the way!" Laura sounded strained. "We need to sort out a nursery, and toys and clothes, and a college fund... do you know how much college will cost in eighteen years? It's a lot!"

Clawd wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Hey hey, I get it. But you're not doing yourself or the kid any favours by burning yourself out like this. You need to relax a little. You don't have to do everything all at once."

"I know, I know." Laura huffed. "But I can't calm down. There's so much to do..."

She blinked as Clawd held up a sheet of paper before her. It was a picture of a squat, tiny sneaker, patterned with different coloured stripes. .

"What's this?"

"Well I got to thinking, we've never produced shoes for children, so I came up with some ideas I thought our kid might like. What do you think?"

Laura's eyes grew wide and seemed to sparkle. "Oooh, that is utterly adorable! I can picture her walking around in them right now! So cute!"

She looked up at him hopefully. "Do you have any more designs?"

Clawd grinned. "I'll show them to you, but only if you take a break."

"Oh fine..." Laura got up, rubbing her slight belly. "You worry too much sometimes, you know that?"

Clawd held her close to his side. "I'm going to be a dad. I think it's my job to worry."

* * *

_When it came to fashion, no one knew the trends better than Clawdeen Wolf. Her amazing outfits and fashion savvy ensures her reign as the most stylish student in school right up to graduation. But after a certain incident in Scaris, she found a new passion for the law, and a desire to help those in need. Shortly after graduating from college with degrees in business, Clawdeen achieved her dream of starting her own fashion line. Her boutique the House of Fierce is hugely popular with the locals and fashion fans from around the world. When she's not creating the coolest fashion around, she can also be seen at the local courthouse, taking on small court cases for her local community. She also seems to be dating one of the top lawyers in town..._

Clawdeen stepped back and looked over the tuxedo her model was currently wearing. She carefully studied the patterns and lines she had drawn on as a guide for stitching later. Suits for males weren't her area of expertise, but she had been requested to make the suit along with a matching dress for a certain couple of friends, and she was determined to make sure it was as perfect as possible.

"Bloody hell, is this going to take much longer?" Vince whined. "My arms are getting stiff."

"Hey, hold still. You're gonna crease it up." Clawdeen spoke, frowning. Maybe asking Vince to act as her mannequin wasn't the best idea. But she needed a male figure to make sure the suit fit right.

"Besides, you offered to volunteer. You got no right to complain." She picked up a needle and thread and began threading some stitches onto the sleeves

"I know, but you never said it was going to take this long!"

"Hey, perfection can't be rushed. Besides, these outfits are for Lagoona and Gil. I want them to look nothing less than fabulous when they dance at their wedding reception."

"Alright, alright.." Vince huffed. "Just do it before I lose all the feeling below my neck, okay?"

Clawdeen smiled sultrily, and ran a finger down Vince's chest. "Aw, poor baby... maybe once we're done here, I'll give you a rub down..." She leaned in closer "...loosen up aaaall that tension."

"Oooh, I'd love that..." Vince grinned, craning his head forward for a quick kiss.

Clawdeen smirked and pulled back. "But first, I got a lot of stitching to do, so don't move!" She resumed placing stitches on the suit's sleeves.

Vince sighed in frustration. "You're an evil woman, do you know that?"

Clawdeen sniggered. "Just keeping you on your toes, baby."

* * *

_The captain of Monster High`s swim team and a fiercely devoted surfer and sea life enthusiast, Lagoona Blue seemed destined to a life in the water. After graduating from San Die-ego University, Lagoona set out on her quest to help improve the oceans, working for several volunteer groups. She was eventually picked up by the Oceanic Research and Conversation Association for her deep sea diving skills and knowledge of the stranger creatures in the Ocean. She can often be found traveling to research sites all over the world, but luckily she's not alone..._

_One of the swim team`s top athletes, Gil Webber shared a close relationship with Lagoona,though they were forced to put in on hold when the two went to separate colleges. Gil had been expected to settle into his family's business, but a huge fight with his parents resulted in him leaving the state and taking up a different career with an oceanic salvage company. His diving skills and unexpected talent with mechanical devices made him a rising star in his field, and he was eventually hired by ORCA, where he was reunited with Lagoona. The two have been working together ever since, and are planning to finally tie the knot at the end of the summer._

Gil looked around the underwater cavern, the small lamp strapped to his head offering the only light in this long forgotten place. All around him were barren walls of rock, jagged stalactites covering the ceiling and piles of junk and debris resting on the seabed below him.  
It was incredibly eerie, and if Lagoona wasn't swimming alongside him, he would have probably hightailed it out of there ages ago.

But they had a job to do, and there was no backing out now.

He looked over at Lagoona, who nodded at him before she swam down to the seabed, circling around the junk on the far side. He followed suit, covering the rest of the debris. He looked over everything carefully, pointing his light to make sure nothing was missed. Having done this kind of thing for most of his life as a salvager, this was second nature to him.

He suddenly spotted it. A large wooden chest with ornate carvings on the lid, almost buried under a pile of sand and other wooden boxes. He signaled for Lagoona to join him.  
Together, the two grasped the handles and lifted it, swimming in tandem to carry it towards the exit of the cavern. Moments later, they were out and carrying the chest towards the surface of the water.

They broke through the surface... into the sunken basement of their house, which was connected to the ocean via a tunnel.

"Remind me again whose bright idea it was to use that cavern as a storage area?" Gil huffed as he heaved the chest out of the water.

"It was you, I recall. You thought it would be a great place to put that rowing machine you hardly ever used." Lagoona replied dryly.

Gil raised an eyebrow. "Yes.. I stowed it next to that underwater hair styler you used for two days before it blew up."

Lagoona looked sheepish, before she returned her attention to the chest. "Well, at least we were able to find this beauty..."

She opened the chest, which had a waterproof seal surrounding it. Inside were several old photo albums. She picked one up and opened it, smiling as she gazed at the pictures of her high school days.

"Aww.. here's us on our third date. Mum will love this one."

Gil glanced over her shoulder "Do we really need to dig out all these old pictures?"

"Mum and Dad want to make a photo montage of us for the wedding, so yeah." Lagoona answered."Come on, it will be a great touch at the reception."

"I guess.. but aren't you worried they're going to find the most embarrassing pictures and put them up for all our guests to see?"

Lagoona shook her head. "They wouldn't do that."

Gil raised an eyebrow. "Really? I've met your dad. Do you really think he's going to pass up a chance to show everyone this?" He held up a photograph of a baby Lagoona, smearing tuna all over her body.

Lagoona blushed and took the picture from his hand. "Er... I'm sure dad won't use that one..."

She then promptly shoved the picture under a pile of books in the chest. "Won't use it at all."

* * *

_The valedictorian of the 2013 class, Ghoulia Yelps` incredible intelligence and quick wits had helped many students and teachers, and even saved the school from certain disaster a few times. Naturally, she was determined to put her smarts to good use, and after graduating from MIT, took a place at Monster Advanced Discoveries, a scientific think tank dedicated to solving various problems facing monsters today. She's already created a device which translates zombie speak, and is said to be working on a cure for Skulliosis._

_Ghoulia`s long time boyfriend and three time winner of the regional school chess championship, Moe 'Slow-Moe' Mortavich has become a bit of a local celebrity after becoming the assistant manager of the Mortavich Delicatessen. This family run eatery has been serving fresh meat and other delicious meals to the community for years, and Moe`s new recipes and savvy business sense has made the place even more popular than ever. Only a couple of weeks ago Moe and Ghoulia finally got married. The couple say they're happier than ever._

Moe watched as his wife checked the apparatus she had set up inside their kitchen. making doubly sure everything was in order. A mass of glass tubes and plastic piping, connected to bunsen burners, tesla coils, mixers and a dozen other devices he barely recognized.

"Sweetie, do we really need all this? It all seems a little much."

Ghoulia turned to look at him, her eyes wide and a wide, creepy smile stretched across her face. He was very familiar with that expression, it was the one she always wore when she got into her experiments.

"Of course it is. If this experiment is to be a success, we can't afford half measures. This is science, we have to go big or go home."

"Okaaay.." Moe replied, worried. "Its just.. this all looks really complex, and you're doing it in our kitchen. Are you sure nothing will go wrong?"

Ghoulia approached her husband, standing on tiptoes to kiss him. "How long have you known me? You know I would never do anything to put ourselves at risk. We'll be fine, I promise."

"Still.. you should put these on." She pulled out a pair of safety goggles from her pocket and handed them to him. "And stand behind that screen." She pointed to a large fibreglass screen on a trolley.

Moe sighed and put on the goggles. "Oh man... We're going to lose our house deposit, I know it."

Ghoulia joined her husband as they shambled over behind the screen. Once ready, she pulled out a remote control, and pressed the single button on it.

Instantly the quiet room was abuzz with noise as the apparatus came to life. Liquids of different colours flowed through the tubes, whizzing around in intricate twists and turns. They ran through different machines, all whirring and groaning as they did... something to the liquid as they passed through. Steam hissed from kettles, beakers bubbled violently, glass tubes rattled.. Moe clenched his muscles, convinced something was going to explode at any moment.

Finally, all the liquid poured through one final tube, mixing into a brown substance which ended up in a mug.  
Once all the noise stopped, Ghoulia shambled over to the mug, and took a sip from it.

"So.. how is it?" Moe asked.

Ghoulia replied with a triumphant groan. "Yes! We've finally done it! We've created the perfect coffee for the deli!"

She offered Moe the mug, and was rewarded with an ear to ear smile when he tasted it.

"Wow... the customers are gonna love this! Only..."

He glanced at the twisted apparatus which created the coffee. "How are we going to fit all this behind the counter?"

Ghoulia smiled and held up a spanner. "Well, I'm sure I can condense it all down. That's just part of the fun, isn't it?"

She approached her equipment, that creepy smile back again. "Don't you just love science?"

* * *

_One of Monster High's most infamous students, Cleo de Nile became known all over the campus for her spoilt, snobby attitude and diva tendencies, but her tireless work supporting school events, and leading one of the school's most successful fearleading teams showed that she possessed more of a heart than many monsters believed. Shortly after graduating from Scarvard, Cleo worked in the publishing arm of her father's business empire, and became a rising star in magazine and fashion circles. Today, she is the owner and editor of Eternal Ghoul, one of the most popular magazines for female monsters today._

_Captain of the casketball team and boyfriend of Cleo de Nile, Deuce Gorgon was one of the most popular boys in school, with several admirers vieing for his attention. Ever faithful, Deuce remained a firm fixture at Cleo's side, the two eventually marrying a few years later. Many tipped him to become a sports star, but Deuce surprised everyone by turning to the world of cooking. Several stints in top restaurants later, he is now the owner and head chef of the Copperhead restaurant in Salem, serving up fine dining so delicious, people are rising from the dead to try it._

Deuce looked around the large central office of Eternal Ghoul as he entered. Several desks were scattered around, each one occupied with a monster working away on a laptop, talking on a phone,or examining clothes or some other kind of beauty item up for review for the magazine.  
He spotted Cleo's assistant Tanis, and waved to her.

"Oh, Mr Gorgon!" Tanis walked over. "I didn't expect to see you here today."

"Well, things are quiet at the restaurant for now. Is Cleo about? We had plans for today."

"Ooh, anywhere special?"

"Deuce shrugged. "Nah, just spending some time together. We've been so busy lately, we thought we should have a day to ourselves."

"Good idea." Tanis glanced at her diePad. "Cleo's been really high strung lately, what with preparing for the Devilia wedding shoot and all... she should be down soon, she always stops by at this time to check on our progress."

Suddenly, several of the staff began to mutter to themselves in hushed, frightened tones.

"Oh God, it's that time already?"

"No.. I'm not finished yet!"

"I'm gonna die.. I'm undead, and I'm gonna die!"

The reason for their fear was soon apparent, as Cleo made a dramatic entrance into the office, swinging the doors wide and sashaying in, her face set in a serious expression. A few of the staff visibly cringed in terror.

"Alright people!" She spoke in a loud authoritative voice that even Headmistress Bloodgood would have trembled at. "It's two weeks before we go to print! What have we got?" She pointed at a random writer. "You, impress me."

"Er..." The worker fumbled with her laptop. "I've got a two page article on Vera Fang's new collection.."

"That's all? Make it five pages, Vera deserves the best." Cleo ordered. She pointed at another worker. "Next!"

"I've almost finished writing up my interview with Aaron Martyr about his comeback single."

Cleo gagged. "Ugh, no one cares about that has-been anymore. Cut it down to a page. You!"

"Um.. I have an article of sex tips inspired by Fifty Shades of Greystone."

"Hilarious.. you're fired."

The writer barely had time to cry before Cleo pointed at another. "And you?"

"Please don't hurt me.. I mean, my story on how to combat cyberbullying is almost done."

"Good, make sure it's correct and factual." She reached the other end of the office and gazed over her employees. "And I want EVERY article this week to be worthy of an Puslitzer! Vanity Scare is meant to have an exclusive with Catty Noir this month, and we are NOT going to lose out to them! Understood?"

The writers all nodded meekly.

"Yikes.." Deuce murmured as he observed the scene. "Its like watching her fearleading practices all over again..."

"Good, I'll expect everything ready to be checked by me at the end of the day." Cleo spun round and faced Deuce, her stern demeanor instantly fading away at the sight of her husband.

"Darling! I didn't keep you waiting long, did I?"

"Er, not at all babe." Deuce kissed her. "Looks like you're busy."

"Oh, not really.. just keeping things in order as usual." She replied breezily. "So, where are we going today?"

Deuce took her arm and led her out the room. "You're gonna love what I got booked..."  
The couple walked out of the office. The moment they were out of sight, the entire staff let out a long sigh of relief, some even crying tears of joy.

* * *

_Hailing from the mountains surrounding Salem, Abbey Bominable was one of the first members of her yeti tribe to attend a modern school, and despite some difficulties with cultural and language barriers, became one of the most respected and dependable students in school. After graduation she returned to her home in the mountains, where she used her new found knowledge and influence as daughter of the village chief to improve the living conditions of her home and bring her people into the 21st Century. Besides her duties as a tribal elder, she runs a small yak farm with her husband and son._

Abbey yanked on the reins, urging Shiver to carry on up the hill. The snow which had settled over the hills and mountains last night was thicker than she expected, and it was taking longer than it usually did to reach the grazing fields.

Fortunately, Ivan didn't seen to mind. Sat in front of his mother, the young yetling delighted in watching the last few snowflakes fall, and would cheer on Shiver as he powered through another snow drift. It felt nice to be able to share moments like this with him.  
Finally, the mammoth reached the top of the hill, allowing mother and son to gaze out at the grazing fields. A think blanket of snow covered the entire field.

Ivan looked confused. "Mama, where are the yaks?"

"Sleeping, under the snow." Abbey replied. "Yaks are tough, will not let a little snowfall disturb their rest."

"And their coats keep them warm too, right?"

Abbey nodded, pleased Ivan was taking an interest in the animals her family farmed at a young age. She suspected he would help out with the farm once he was older.

"So how do we wake yak up?" Ivan asked.

"Oh, that is easy. Hold on tight..."  
She wrapped one arm around Ivan's waist, and used her free hand to yank Shiver's reins sharply. The mammoth let out a bellow and raised up on his hind legs, eliciting a cry of surprise from Ivan.  
Shiver fell back to the ground, his mighty feet crashing into the earth. The loud tremor echoed all around, so loud that it roused the yaks sleeping under the snow. They popped out all over the place, large lumps of shaggy hair and horns leaping out of the snow and running as fast as their stubby legs could carry them.

"They're getting away mama!" Ivan declared excitedly.

"Now comes the fun part!" Abbey grinned. "We herd them toward farm."

"Yay! Lets go!" Ivan hopped on her lap.

"Yah" Abbey yanked the reins, and Shiver started into a thundering run after the yaks.

* * *

_The catacombs of Monster High were never silent thanks the school's very own musical diva Operetta Dessler, who regularly rocked the halls and was a constant presence in many after school clubs, including dance and Skulltimate Roller Maze. After graduation, she immediately chased after her dream of becoming a rock star, and was signed to Deadhead records. Sadly, her music career didn't last as long as she hoped, with only two hit songs to her name before she quit. She now lives in Portland, where she runs a popular music club. Locals say her live performances pack everyone in every weekend._

_Johnny Spirit was one of the most coolest students around, his bad boy attitude and rebellious streak earning him many admirers, while also making him the bane of many of the school faculty. (And earning him countless centuries worth of detention) While Johnny has toned back his attitude a bit and settled down into a relationship with Operetta, he can still make any event cooler just by showing up. He currently runs a motorcycle and auto repair shop in Portland._

Johnny frowned as he looked under the hood. He was used to examining complex engines and machinery, but this was a little out of his league. Still, he had promised he would give it a shot.

He phased his hands through the side, and began fiddling with the valves and wires. One advantage of being a ghost was that you never had to stretch or twist your arms to reach into awkward places. Just pass your arms through the walls to reach what you wanted, and you had it made.

"How's it lookin' honey?" Operetta's sweet voice cooed in his ear. She was leaning over, watching his hands as he worked. "Think you can get this baby singin' again?"

"Gimme a chance 'Retta. This ain't exactly my expertise, you know." He huffed. "I dunno why you don't just get one of them experts to do this."

"Because they charge a king's ransom, and I'm trying to save up for our anniversary." Operetta replied.  
She smiled at him. "Besides, those hands of yours are perfect for delicate jobs like this... and I'm enjoyin' the view." She leaned to the side to take in the sight of her husband's rear end as he bent over to look under the hood.

Johnny returned the favour, taking in a view of his wife's cleavage as she leaned over. "Well, I'm sure my hands could find something better to... fiddle with."

Operetta smirked. "You finish this first, and maybe I'll let you play with me later.."

"I'm gonna hold you to that..." He continued working for a bit longer.  
Finally, he pulled back and closed the hood. "Okay, I think that does it. Let's give this baby a spin."

Operetta grabbed a stool and sat before the machine... her beloved pipe organ. She pressed the keys, and was delighted when a deafening, brassy sound erupted from the pipes. She pressed more keys to test, before settling into a rhythm and playing a chorus of 'When the Saints Come Marching In'.

"Hooee! She sounds golden!" She cheered. "I'd never thought she'd sound this good again."

Happy that she was pleased, Johnny moved to the side and grabbed a violin case from a shelf, opening it to bring out his prized fiddle.

"Well, how about we really test the pipes on this thing? You up for a duet?"

"Oh honey.." Operetta sighed, touching his cheek tenderly. "You always know how to turn me on."

* * *

_Even in a school full of extraordinary students like ours, Jackson Jekyll and Holt Hyde easily stood out, thanks to being two people co-inhabiting the same body. Jackson's quiet, geeky demeanor and Holt's loud, excitable nature were complete contrasts to one another, resulting in the two constantly conflicting with each other. Thankfully, time has helped the two find friendship and a balance, allowing them both to live their lives to the full. Both currently live in New Yuck, with Jackson a computer programmer working on some of the best selling programs and games on the market right now, and Holt a music producer collaborating with some of the biggest names in music._

Jackson groaned as he awoke, his head throbbing. He felt horrible, his eyes were sore, his muscles were stiff, and there was a strange taste in his mouth. As he sat upright, he wondered why he felt like this, he'd gone to bed at his usual time... hadn't he?

His question was answered when he realized he was still wearing his jeans and shoes, and little else. And it looked like his jeans were covered in confetti.

"Holt.." He growled inwardly. It had to be Holt. No doubt he'd had some wild party with his music biz friends again.

He sighed in annoyance. He understood that as a music producer, hanging out with the artists under his wing was a part of Holt's work, but couldn't he at least given him some warning before he went out to party? Despite all the progress they had made in their shared life, Holt still seemed to forget they had to share the same body, and that body needed rest. Had Holt even remembered that he had work in the morning...

Oh crap... what time was it? He could be late for work already!

He was about to scramble and find a clock when he felt a pair of slender arms wrap around his waist, and a warm figure press against him. He turned to see Clair smiling at him as she snuggled against him. Save for letting her hair grow out to her shoulders and no longer wearing her gothic makeup, she hadn't changed much in the last ten years.

"Hey." She spoke softly. "Just where are you going?"

"To the unemployment line if I don't hurry. Thanks to Holt I'm probably late for work." He sighed, reluctant to leave Clair and his warm bed behind.

"Relax. You don't have to go anywhere."

"I have to be at work..."

"Holt took care of it." Clair reached over her boyfriend and grabbed a sheet of paper resting on the bedside table. She handed it to Jackson, prompting him to put on his glasses to read it. Sure enough, he recognized Holt's sketchy handwriting.

_Yo Jackson! Sorry about last night, but Ozzy Fuzzbourne and Zabel Zarock invited me to an impromptu bash as a local rock bar, and I guess things got a bit crazy... I only meant to stay for an hour, I swear! But I knew you had work in the morning, so once I dragged my ass home, I got on the horn to your boss, and told him that I.. well, you, would be working at home today. (Good thing I can still do that imitation of your voice, eh?) So you got the whole day off. I also got you a egg and bacon muffin for breakfast, you just gotta heat it up._  
_Take it easy bro, and have a good time with Clair._  
_Much love, Holt!"_

"See?" Clair spoke. "He can act responsibly when he needs to."

"I guess so.." Jackson replied, honestly surprised that Holt had gone to all this effort for him. In the past Holt wouldn't have given a minute's thought to how his antics affected Jackson. But now he was finally starting to think ahead... Perhaps he was more grown up than he thought.

Suddenly, the bedroom door was pushed open, and Clair shrieked in terror as a monster shambled into the room. It was an old, lanky zombie, with long spikey hair and an extremely bedraggled look on his gaunt face.

"Ugh.. what bloody time is it?" It spoke in a ridiculously overdone English accent.  
Jackson just stared at the zombie for a moment, then looked back at Holt's note.

_"P.S. Zabel Zarock had a little too much to drink last night and I couldn't let him drive home, so I let him crash on the couch. I'm sure he'll be gone by the time you wake up, but if you see him, tell him I said hi!"_

"Ere..you got anything to eat?" Zabel Zarock rasped. "All I found in the fridge was a egg and bacon muffin thing.."

Jackson and Clair just looked at each other, sighing in resignation.

"Hoooolt.."

* * *

_Hoodude Voodoo entered the school quite unexpectedly, after being made from cloth by Frankie Stein as a botched attempt to make a boyfriend. Poor Hoodude had to put up with unpredictable voodoo powers and a unrequited crush on his creator. However, he would eventually overcome both to become a well liked student, and begin a strong relationship with a ghost who lived in his first home. Today he runs a small dry cleaning and tailors store in Salem, and also helps Kindergrubber House, the foster home for homeless young monsters once run by the late Gretchen Kindergrubber, who looked after him._

Hoodude whistled the tune of One Resurrection's latest song as he poured a load of blueberries into a blender. He wasn't a fan of the band, only hearing them when he passed by the student's rooms. But their latest song was pretty catchy, and he was in a really good mood this morning, so why not? As he reached for some cream to add it, he bopped his head to the melody.

He was so focused on his music, he didn't register the creature that was slowly shambling towards him. It was a huge hulking monster, its muscles and bones exposed due to a lack of skin. Massive bone claws tipped the fingers of it's four arms, and jagged teeth protruded from its mouth. It towered over Hoodude, staring down at him with a hungry gaze.

Hoodude felt it's presence, and turned to face the inhuman mutant. A smile crossed his face.

"Morning Terry! You sleep okay?"

The mutant replied with a long yawn "Yeah, as well as I could. I was up all night studying for Miss Stripe's Clawculus exam. I don't know how I'm gonna pass, that lady is vicious!"

"She's not that bad." Hoodude replied.

The monster stared at him with a haunted look. "Dude... you've not been in her class. I fear her..."

"Alright, tell you what. How about we go over your notes before you head to school?"

"Cool... thanks Mr V!" Terry grinned. "Ooh! My Little Bonies is on. Catch you later."

Hoodude smiled as Terry stomped off to the living room to watch his favourite cartoon.. It was nice to see the mutant living a happier, positive life. When Terry had first moved into the home he had been sullen and distrustful of everyone. Understandable, given that he was a genetically engineered bio-weapon who had been abandoned by his creators...

"You seem cheery this morning." A voice tinged with a Brooklyn accent spoke beside him. Hoodude turned to see the curvacious figure of his ghostly wife Erika materialize next to him. Like pretty much everything she wore, her dress was a fancy 20's style Art Deco garment. The style was a holdover from when she supposedly died.

"Well, why not?" Hoodude replied enthusiastically. "It's a beautiful day outside, the borders are happy, I got no chores to do, meaning I can spend more time with a certain gorgeous ghoul..." Erika giggled at that.

"And, I'm about to make us some awesome smoothies for breakfast. So yeah, I'm feeling pretty good today!" And with a dramatic twirl, Hoodude spun and jabbed the power button of the blender.

Moments later, the smoothie was splattered all over the walls, and all over Hoodude and Erika.

Hoodude sighed as he wiped the gooey liquid off his face. "Forgot the lid..."

Erika chuckled and pulled out a glob of smoothie out of her hair. "Oh dear.. why don't you chuck yourself into the washing machine while I clean up here."

"Aw man.." Hoodude whined as he trudged towards the laundry room. "I hate using that machine.. the spin cycle is brutal."

* * *

_Robecca Steam was one of Monster High's first robotic students, and proved that being made from metal was no impediment to being a model student. As well as captaining the Skulltimate Roller maze team, leading to two championship cups, she also ran the popular Catacombs Exploration Club, researching the school's past. Today, she is a professional SKRM player for the Salem Shriekers._

Robecca bent down and rechecked her rocket boots, making sure the fuel tanks were full and not leaking, no wires were loose, and the thruster ports were clean. Her rockets were her most important treasure, her lifeblood, and it was vital that they worked to perfection, even if she was just taking a nice, boring run to the park for some fresh air.

Though she doubted it would be boring for long.

"Are you ready?" She called as she strapped on her helmet, calling to her boyfriend Chip Cylacone.

Like her Chip was a robot, thought he had been built in a much more modern era than Robecca had. He looked like an average adult male with dark hair, save for his pale skin, abnormally golden eyes, and round audio receptors where his ears would be. He was currently checking his feet, where small jet engines protruded from his ankles.

"My jets are primed, my safety gear is secure, I am ready to go." He replied in his clipped, even voice. "I have a route mapped to the park on my GPS, it should take us around twenty minutes to get there."

Robecca sidled up to him. "Well, how about we make things interesting and have a race there?"

"A race?" Chip queried. "That seems somewhat unnecessary."

"Oh come on, it's a bit of fun. And good exercise!" Robecca nudged him with her elbow.

"But we already know the result. I am certain to win." Chip responded.

"How so?"

"Your rocket boots are able to reach considerable speed, but the Victorian design means that your turning speed is vastly compromised, and the time it takes to burn fuel means your acceleration time will be slow coming out of the corners." He pointed at his ankles. "My jets offer no such hindrance, meaning I can keep a continuous velocity."

Robecca frowned at him. She knew Chip wasn't trying to be mean, he was merely analyzing and stating the facts as he knew them. He just hadn't quite integrated 'tact' and 'sensitivity' into his programming yet.

"Is that so? Then how about we make a little bet? Whoever gets to the park last, has to do everything the winner says."

Chip raised an eyebrow. "That sounds amenable.. though it seems you have resigned yourself to helping me organize my sheet music."

"Don't bet on it." Robecca primed her jets and bent down in a starting pose. "You ready?"

Chip started his own jets and readied himself next to Robecca.

"3.. 2.. 1... GO!"

The two robots shot off, the jets on their feet propelling them forward at high speed. Chip took the lead early, his high-tech jets easily providing him with constant acceleration.

With his GPS guiding him, Chip was soon racing through the streets, calculating the degrees and speed needed to steer around the corners and dodge traffic while still maintaining his top speed. He wasn't aware if Robecca was still keeping up with him, all his focus was on the race.

At last he reached the park, slowing down to a halt. His internal chronometer registered he had reached the destination in just under 12 minutes...

"Oh. You finally got here then?"

His eyes widened as he realized Robecca was sitting on a park bench, sipping a cup of iced oil. She smiled and waved at him.

"I.. I don't understand." He spoke. "How did you get here before me?"

Robecca stepped toward him, smirking all the way. "I'm a SKRM champion, remember? I'm used to taking shortcuts and alternate routes, and I know every shortcut in this town. You don't need to go fast when you can cut the distance in half."

She leaned in and stared into Chip's eyes. "Now.. I believe the deal was that the loser does anything the winner says."

"That was the agreement..."

"Good.." Robecca stroked his chest, a seductive smile on her face. "When we get home, you're going to give me a nice, long, body wash. With Turtle Wax and everything."

Chip raised an eyebrow. "I think that can be arranged." He leaned in closer. "Would you like me to use... the buffer as well?"

"Ooh, yes.." Robecca cooed, leaning in for a kiss...

* * *

_Despite not talking much, Scarah Screams was one of Monster High's most outspoken students, regularly leaping into debates and arguments with her telepathic abilities to voice her opinions or offer advice, a trait which led the school to its first Mashional Debate Team championship. Today she works as an investigator and social worker for the Ghoulwill Foundation, which helps monsters still living among humans and who have difficulty adjusting to modern life._

Scarah took a deep breath as she approached the small family house. Her psychic senses could already sense fear and uncertainty from the home's inhabitants. Truth be told, she was feeling very apprehensive herself.

In her time working as a case worker for the Ghoulwill Foundation, she had seen and assisted many monsters, and sometimes humans, in a variety of different situations. She had met vampires and mummies as they rose from their tombs after centuries of sleep to help them acclimate to modern life. She had helped whole families of monsters find new homes after being chased out of town by ignorant normies. She'd given guidance to parents of different races about to have a mixed-race child, and counseled several poor monsters suffering from depression, anxiety, anger and all the various social and mental problems facing modern monsters today.

This case though... was unlike anything she'd encountered before. And she wasn't quite sure there would be an easy answer.  
But she had to try. These people who had contacted her sounded desperate.

She knocked on the door, which was answered by a human couple in their early thirties. One was smartly dressed, the other was scruffier, but both wore matching white lab coats. They looked very surprised by her appearance.

"Hello, Mr and Mrs Kracken. I'm Scarah Screams, from the Ghoulwill Foundation. I believe you asked for a meeting." She spoke telepathically, though moved her lips at the same time to put the couple at ease.

"Y..yes! Of course!" Mr Kracken stammered. "I'm sorry, it's just... when they said your group was staffed by.. non humans, I didn't quite believe it, but seeing you.."

"I get that sometimes." Scarah replied with a small smile. "May I come in?"

They welcomed her inside, and minutes later they were sat on the couch with mugs of tea. Mr and Mrs Kracken related their story, taking large gulps of tea to settle their nerves as they spoke.

They explained how they were scientists, genetically engineering entirely new, simple-minded life forms out of animal matter in the hope of creating a means of biologically curing diseases. How secretly, against the wishes of the company they worked for, they had decided to create a creature using human DNA -their own- mixed with genes from various sea life. And how the being that had emerged from the process was unlike any living being they had ever seen. How this being not only possessed sentience, but as Mrs Kracken put it, a soul as well

"She's grown up so fast in the year since she was born. Physically and mentally, she's just like any seven year old girl." Mrs Kracken explained. "She loves to read books, she plays with her dolls in the bath, she's learning how to draw..." Tears fell from her eyes. "She's not just some experiment... she's a living person, no matter how she was born."

"And now, the company is shutting down our project." Mr Kracken continued, holding his wife close. "When it happens, they'll want to take all our research. If they find out about all this... God knows what they'll do to her."

Scarah nodded, listening intently. She could sense great fear within them, but also an overwhelming sense of love towards this being they considered their own child. She could hardly refuse to help.

"Well, we would certainly be able to help, but it would mean a lot of changes. You or your daughter may have to be moved to a new home. Towns where monsters like me make up most of the population."

"We're willing to do anything to keep her safe." Mrs Kracken replied.

Scarah smiled. "That's good to hear. It can be a tough transition though... Would it be alright to talk to your daughter about it?"

The Krackens led her through the house towards a blue door, marked with a cartoon picture of an octopus.

"Octavia, can we come in? There's someone who wants to talk to you."

They let her into a small pastel coloured bedroom, though instead of a bed there was a large bathtub installed. Sitting in the bathtub was a small girl with yellow skin, flecked with teal stripes and spots. Her hair also appeared to be teal coloured, but a closer look revealed her hair was actually several tentacles, which were curled and twisted to resemble a normal hairstyle.

Upon seeing Scarah enter, the girl shyly hid her face behind her tentacles.

"Hello Octavia." Scarah spoke softly as she knelt next to the tub. "My name's Scarah."

Octavia peered through her tentacle bangs. "Are.. are you going to help my parents? They've been really upset lately... I think it's because of me."

"Oh sweetheart, it's not your fault." Scarah replied. "I promise, I'm going to do everything I can to make things better for you and your parents."

Octavia smiled gratefully, giving Scarah a sense of relief and joy in her heart. It wouldn't be easy for this family, but she was determined to do whatever it took to keep them together.

* * *

_A former student council president at his old school Fullmoon High, Romulus Silverbane became the designated Alpha wolf among his fellow students when his school merged with Monster High. Despite some spats, he helped foster friendship between the vampire and werewolf students, and became a regular presence in school sports and student debates. Today he works as a banker at Blud Banking with his old friend and rival Bram Devein, as well as serving as a member of the Werewolf Civil Rights League alongside his wife, Scarlett Pawson._

_The student council president of Belfry Prep, Bram Devein didn't exactly endear himself to the student body with his superior attitude toward what he deemed 'lesser beings'. But time and some rather harsh warnings from Headmistress Bloodgood help mature him into a wiser, if still haughty leader of his coven, as well as instill an interest in vampire history and politics. Today he works as a banker for Blud Banking, alongside his friend and rival Romulus Silverbane._

_Bram's long time partner Gory Fangtell wasted no time in establishing herself as one of the school's top students, not only ranking as one of the most knowledgable with top grades in almost every class and a regular leader of the Frightengales club, but also becoming a fashion maven whose style could rival Cleo and Clawdeen. She and Bram finally married shortly after graduation (revealing their engagement had lasted fifty years) and are expecting the birth of their first child. Gory also divides her time between looking after their new home in Salem and running a popular blog._

The gym was dimly lit, with only a large spotlight hanging over the large boxing ring in the center providing the only light. Bram stepped into the ring, clad in sweatpants, a vest and padded body armour on his chest and head. He wore boxing gloves on his hands, which he thumped together restlessly.

"What's taking so long. Not chickening out, are you?"

Romulus stepped into the light, clad in similar clothing and wielding his own staff. "Nah, just giving you time to get ready. I know you old geezers take a while to put your clothes on."

Bram smirked. "I'm getting old? You're the one with the grey hairs all over you."

"At least it's my natural colour. How much dye you got on that hairdo, huh?" Romulus retorted.

"How about we just get on with this?" Bram readied his fists in a classic boxing stance.

"Thought you'd never ask, vamp boy." Romulus raised his fists.

A moment of quiet, then the two rushed toward each other. Their fists jabbed and swung at each other striking their bodies or their arms as they blocked. They weaved around the ring, each trying to get in a punch on the other.

"That the best you got?!" Romulus taunted as he blocked a punch. "My little sister can hit harder than you!"

"It's about technique, not power!" Bram fended off a blow. "And I've seen bloated ticks with more finesse than you!"

The fight became more furious, the two drawing on their supernatural strength to move faster, their fists becoming a blur.

"Come on!" Bram gave a fake yawn in between blows. "Your old bones giving out already?"

"Ha! You're the slow one! Need to take a coffin break?" Romulus responded with with body blows.

The two hopped backward, raising their fists and charging at each other for a final blow, yelling in primal fury.

"AHHHHHHH!"

"So there you two are!"

The two suddenly stopped, nearly stumbling over, and looked over at the source of the voice. A very pregnant Gory, and Romulus' equally pregnant wife Scarlett stood by the ring, both looking very annoyed.

"So this is what you guys do after work?" Scarlett asked, eyebrows raised.

"We're just blowing off steam, baby." Romulus said, pointing at his headgear. "No one's getting hurt, see?"

Gory frowned. "That's fine, but isn't there something else you're meant to be doing?"

"Er.. can't think of anything." Bram shrugged.

"You were supposed to meet me at the maul so we could get furniture for the nursery!" Gory bit back.

"And we have a lamaze class scheduled today, and you are not missing it!" Scarlett pointed at Romulus.

"So get in the shower, get dressed, and lets get going! My ankles are swelling up and I want to get everything done before dinner." Gory ordered.

The two pregnant monsters waddled off, leaving Bram and Romulus to look at each other with sympathetic stares.

"Remember when we used to be the alphas in our packs?" Romulus said.

"I miss those days.." Bram sighed.

* * *

_The right hand wolf of Romulus Silverbane, Douglas 'Dougey' Lycus could often be seen helping Romulus keeping his pack in line, becoming a friendly, if sometimes intimitating presence in the halls. His huge size belied a sensitive soul who loved sappy movies and football in equal measure. Today he works as a construction worker and landscaper, yet still makes time to support his wife -professional dancer Howleen Wolf- at all her performances._

Dougey stepped as quietly as he could toward the door of the Salem Community Center's main gymnasium. The loud hip hop music he could hear indicated Howleen's class was in session, and he didn't want to interrupt.

He sidled through the door and took a seat in the bleachers, the numerous young boys and ghouls in the class not noticing him. All their focus was on their teacher, and following her fast dance steps. She spun and stepped in rapid motion, never missing a beat in the music.

It was always enthralling to watch Howleen dance, and not just because she looked really good in spandex shorts. Howleen was an exceptional dancer. She could have performed with the Cirque de Ghoule or the New Yuck Ballet, and easily become a star. Instead she chose to come here, teaching dance to young kids who needed guidance and ambition. That dedication and selflessness was what truly made her shine.

Suddenly, there were loud shouts from the back of the class. Everyone turned to see two young ghouls, a sea monster and a ogre, hitting and shoving at each other. Dougey was about to move to intervene, but Howleen was quicker, pausing the music and marching over to the two.

"And just what is going on?" She asked.

The sea creature pointed at the orge. "This fatty bumped into me and threw me off my rhythm, that's what!"

"It's not my fault!" The ogre retorted. "This stinky drip keeps hogging all the floor!"

"I don't smell!" The sea creature glared at her. "If anything smells, its you and your ratty clothes. Can't you afford anything decent?"

"At least I'm not freaking everyone out with my ugly face...

"THAT IS ENOUGH!"

The two ghouls nearly fell over from the force of Howleen's shout, and even Dougey jumped in his seat. The students trembled as Howleen loomed over them, the kind expression they were used to replaced with a look of cold anger.

"Let me remind you ghouls why we are here. We're here to learn to dance. We're here to get healthy, get confident, learn patience and discipline, and have fun."

She leaned towards the two ghouls, her face inches from theirs. "We are NOT here to insult and belittle each other. We are not here to act like morons. And we are NOT her to treat everyone else like crap just because it makes us feel better! If that's your attitude, then I suggest you pack your things and don't bother coming back."

The two ghouls looked horrified at the prospect of being kicked out off class. "We're sorry Mrs Lycan!"

"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to each other."

Reluctantly, they turned to each other. "Sorry.."

Howleen's smile returned. "Good. Lets not have anything like this happen again, okay?" She turned to the rest of the class. "Alright everyone, great work today! We'll meet here again at the weekend and I'll show you how to do the back flip properly."

The students began to file out, and Dougey took the opportunity to sneak up behind his wife and give her a hug.

"So, how was class?" He asked.  
"Tough as usual." She replied, keeping her eyes on the young sea creature and ogre as they made for the exit. "I think I'm gonna need to keep an eye on those two in the future."

"Gonna give 'em the old 'how I almost destroyed my school' story, huh?"

"If it comes to that..." Howleen replied, a slight look of sadness in her eyes. Dougey immediately regretted bring up that story. While the legendary 'magic lamp' incident ten years ago had helped shape her into the ghoul she was today, it had also left some lasting scars...

But then she was smiling again, and tugging on his arm like a little kid. "Come on, let's get some lunch. I'm famished.

Dougey grinned. Nothing could keep his ghoul down.

* * *

_Devoted to the environment and protecting her fellow plantlife, Venus Mcflytrap could often be seen staging protests, stage shows, sit-ins... anything to make her voice heard. Though often branded as that 'annoying hippie' Venus proved she was anything but, after graduating from Scarvard and entering the world of politics, working up until becoming one of the youngest governors in the Monster Federation. Today she serves as state governor, working to improve not only the environment but living standards as well, with support from her husband and children._

Venus took a deep breath as she approached the table. Her audience was watching her, eager to hear what she had to say, and their gaze was making her a little nervous. Taking a moment to smooth down her suit and take a deep breath, she began her speech.

"My fellow monsters, I come to you today to ask... no demand, that we give aid to monster farmers who are in grave need of our help! For years, our farmers have served us dutifully, providing food to our various communities when human farms wouldn't touch us with a barge pole."

"They've provided us with the special, unique foods many of our races need, such as kelp and coral for sea creatures, fertilizer for plant creatures, and blood for vampires. But in recent years, as monster and human communities have become more integrated, more and more of our farmers are beginning to lose business as human farmers begin to encroach on our territory."

She clenched the table. "Many of you think its a good thing more human farms are opening their business to us. And in some ways, it is. But is it worth the cost to our proud farmers, who have supported us through though times, and still support us in ways humans cannot? I don't think so."

"Many analysts I've spoken to predict that if she don't take steps now, a majority of our farmers will be left bankrupt and unable to supply their communities. It would be a terrible loss, not just for the farmers, but for everyone who has come to depend on them. And so, I ask you all to read my proposal to lend financial aid to our farmers, to help them through this difficult time and to help them meet the increasing demand we ask of them. We your help, we can save this traditional, and still vital way of life."

She took a breath, and gazed out at the audience. "And this is when everyone cheers."

Her audience, consisting of her husband Dan and her children Cornel and Daisy, all began clapping and cheering. Even their pet man-eating plant Gnasher managed to clap his leaves together.

"That was awesome, Mom!" Cornel cheered.

"I'll say." Dan smiled proudly, stepping up to give her a hug. "If that doesn't get those bureaucrats opening their wallets, I don't know what will."

"Couldn't you just spray your pollen everywhere and make them do what you say?" Cornel asked.  
Venus smiled and rubbed his head. "It's tempting, but that would be cheating. And cheating..." She prompted her son to finish.

"...never gets anyone anywhere. I know." Cornel replied with a smile.

Venus gathered her family together for a big hug. "Thanks for hearing me out guys.. Now I know I'm gonna do great at the hearing tomorrow."

* * *

_Reliable as the stone she was born from, Rochelle Goyle served as the school's hall monitor for almost her entire school term, such was her dedication to keeping the school populace safe. Aside from up-keeping the rules, Rochelle was also a regular in Monster High's fashion clubs. Shortly after graduation, she moved back to her native Scaris to marry her long-time boyfriend Garrott DuRoque. The two are happily married with two children, and Rochelle continues to look after others in her role as a policewoman._

Rochelle entered the room slowly, her eyes scanning the room in every direction. She removed her police hat and placed it atop a nearly table, never diverting her attention from the room for a minute.

"I know you are in here." She spoke aloud, stepping further into the room. "You cannot escape from me."

A very quiet creak from the left side of the room caught her attention. Years of police training had prepared her for situations like this, to listen for the quiet noises people made while hiding, to spot things that looked out of place.. This one had sounded like wood... her quarry was likely near the table.

She edged toward the dining table at the rear of the room, keeping her back to it so as to look oblivious to her target's location.

"You may think you have found the perfect place to hide..." She continued to speak aloud. "But I have already deduced where you are. You are right in front of me.."

She heard footsteps behind her, emerging from under the table. Her quarry had taken the bait. Quick as an avalanche, she spun around...

And scooped up her nine year old daughter in her arms, tickling her as she did so.

"Mamaaa!" Amethyst cried. "How did you know I was there?"

"You forget cherie, its my job to track people down.

Ame pouted. "I'm never going to beat you at hide and seek."

"You will, you just need to practice." Rochelle consoled, hugging her.

"Ah, you're home." Rochelle turned to see Garrott, still wearing his apron from the flower shop he ran from the front of the house. He held their young son Cobalt in his arms, who reached for his mother with his pudgy arms.

"How was your day, cherie? Garrott asked.

"Yeah, did you catch any bad guys?" Ame asked excitedly.

Rochelle smiled and stepped closer to hug her husband and son. "Ah, today has been quite an adventure..."

* * *

_Manny Taur didn't have the best reputation in school. Known for regularly insulting and pushing students, he was feared and pitied by everyone. I'm glad to say however, that since then Manny has made a complete turnaround to become a much nicer monster, and was since apologizing to all of his former victims. Today he works as a bouncer and security guard for various employers around Salem._

For Manny, it was a usual night serving as security outside of one of Salem's hottest nightclubs, the Dead of Night. Which of course, meant putting up with the impatient monsters waiting in line to get in.

"Come on maaaaan!" The short, stitched together construct monster at the head of the queue whined. "I've been waiting hours to get into this joint. Let me in already!"

Manny sighed, resisting the urge to dropkick the little pest into the nearest dumpster. "Look pal, we got a policy. I can't let more people in until a few have left. Fire safety laws and all. Besides.." He bent down to look the construct in the eye. "I ain't entirely convinced you're over 21."

"Son of a.. I'm 27!" The construct angrily spat back, pulling out an ID card with the name Frank N. Tyke printed on it. "I'm just short, that's all!"

"Why would anyone create you to be shorter than a schoolkid?"

"Hey,my parents had to work with what they had, okay?" Frank replied. "Now you letting me in or what?"

"Sorry, we're still too full." Manny replied, glaring.

Frank raised a fist. "Don't think I can't kick your ass, man."

Manny was tempted to take up the little pest on his offer, but starting a fight on the street was a quick way to get fired...

"Manny!" He turned to see a heavy-set gargoyle approaching him holding a paper bag.

"Gary! What are you doing here? You on break?" Manny asked his fellow bouncer and boyfriend.

Gary smiled."Yeah, thought I'd get a snack and say hello on my way back.."

"Hey man! You trying to jump the line?" Frank exclaimed.

Gary ignored him. "So anyway, I got you a ham sub. Figured you were getting hungry."

"Aw, thanks!" Manny took the bag. "Just what I needed. The food here is lousy."

"I gotta head back. See you later, okay? He leaned in to peck a kiss on Manny's cheek.

"Whoa whoa! Seriously?!" This came from Frank, who was watching them with a dropped jaw. "Huh, some security. The best this place could hire is a couple of..."

Manny and Gary's response was to lean down and glare at the short monster with threatening faces, steam rising from Manny's nostrils and Gary's neck muscles bulging.

Frank trembled. "Er.. maybe I'll just go somewhere else."

He ran away from the queue as fast as his stubby legs could carry him.

* * *

_The constantly hot-headed Heath Burns could always be relied on to liven up the proceedings.. whether he was asked to or not. A true party animal and adrenaline junkie, Heath was a regular participant in the casketball team and could often be seen running, skateboarding, starting impromptu dances, anything to have fun. Though this often resulted in him causing several fires within the school grounds and his carefree attitude extended a little too far into his adult years... Thankfully, he's grown up a bit since then, and now works as a deputy for the Salem Police Department. Locals describe him as a helpful and determined officer who can be counted on... most of the time._

Heath stepped out of the bakery, carrying a tray laden with glazed donuts, a cup of coffee and a can of iced tea. He approached his police car, where the new deputy he had been assigned to look after was waiting, leaning against the hood.

"Here you go rookie, breakfast is served."

The deputy, a young cyclops named Mona Culle, rolled her single eye. "Donuts, really? That is such a cliche."

"Hey don't mock the donuts." Heath took his place on the hood next to her. "Trust me, these things can keep a monster going all day at full energy. They're the secret to being a great cop."

"Considering how many Sheriff Growler puts away, he must be the most awesome cop to ever live." Mona said, chuckling.

"True that." Heath laughed with her. He'd only spent a few days with Mona, but he found her a really fun officer to hang out with. And she was a looker to boot. Maybe once they'd spent a bit more time together, he'd ask her out on a date. Dating a fellow officer wasn't against regulations, right?

"So, I guess we're just patrolling around today, huh?" Mona asked.

"Uh.. yeah, pretty much." Heath took a bite out of his donut.

Mona let out a disappointed sigh. "Thought so."

"Something wrong?"

"Its just..." Mona crossed her arms. "Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to have this job, but I was expecting it be a bit more exciting. Chasing down criminals and shutting down gangs, you know?

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Heath replied. "I thought my first day on the job would be like an episode of Scaresky and Mutt. But Salem just ain't the crime capital of the world. Which is nice, even if it is a little dull."

He took a sip of his coffee, gazing out at the small shopping center. "But that doesn't mean nothing ever happens here of course. A lot of weird stuff has happened in this town in the past. Angry normies, a crazy genie.. you gotta be prepared for the unexpected around here."

"Like that?" Mona pointed across the parking lot. On the other side, a plant monster in a hoodie was assaulting a zombie woman, trying to take her purse.

Heath swallowed the rest of his donut. "Son of a.. hey stop! Police!"

He reached for his gun, but in his haste forgot he was still holding his coffee. The hot drink spilled out of the cup, and right onto his trousers."

"YEEEAAAAAHHH!" He fell to the ground, clutching his crotch.

Mona rolled her eye, then focused her sight on the robber, who was running away with the purse. She grabbed her can of iced tea and flung it as hard as she could. It flew in a perfect arc before descending and hitting the robber on the head, knocking hm to the ground..

Heath managed to stand up, though his legs were bowed. "Whoa! That was... ow... one lucky throw."

"Luck nothing! I got a perfect score in target practice during training." Mona smirked, pointing at her eye. "Thing with us cyclops is, we're born with great farsight."

"That's... ah.. handy." Heath spoke through clenched teeth.

Mona looked concerned. "Are you okay? I thought fire elementals were impervious to heat."

"We're impervious to flames. Boiling water... not so much." Heath winced.

"Do you need help?"

"No no, I'm good. Go arrest that guy. You need the experience anyway. I'll just be over here.. observing, yeah..."

"Okay..." Mona took out her handcuffs and approached the mugger. Heath took the opportunity to sit back in the squad car and turn on the air conditioning, aiming the cool air onto his trousers. A long sigh of relief left his lips.

* * *

_Toralei Stripe was one of the top fearleaders for Monster High's team, and had even qualified in the Mashional Championships. However she was more well known for pulling pranks and generally being mean to other students, usually to further her own ends. Little is known about what happened to her after graduation, aside from her leaving Salem, but it seems she returned to the town with a complete personality change, becoming a much nicer and respectful monster and single mother, while still retaining much of her independent streak. In a real surprise, she now works at the school she once couldn't stand, teaching Clawculus._

Toralei surveyed her class as she entered and set up her desk. Only a couple of students noticed her, the rest were all chatting with each other, checking their phones and generally goofing off, no doubt looking forward to the weekend.

She smirked. It was always fun to give these kids a little shock.

"Alright class, listen up!" The entire class jumped to attention. "I know you guys have an exciting weekend planned, but I'd like you to come back a little smarter than when you left. So today we're gonna go over some advanced clawculus and geometry methods, then on Monday we're gonna have a quiz. Exciting, huh?"

The students groaned. Toralei smiled and readied her notes. "Oh hush up. You'll thank me for this later. Now, let's start with some multiplication..."

The class continued in relative calm as Toralei demonstrated some clawculus equations on the board, then challenged the students to answer the problems he se up. However, it wasn't long before she

noticed one of the vampire students texting away on her iCoffin.

"Alucarda Vein!" She bellowed, causing the vampire to jump in shock. Before she could react, Toralei approached her desk and snatched her phone from her hand.

"Texting in class? For your sake, I hope its a funny one.."

She read the screen. "This class sux, miss stripe duller than a tombstone."

She cast a withering gaze at the embarrassed student. "Well Miss Vein, whether I'm dull or not is a matter of opinion.. a lot of monsters here think I'm a hoot. But that's no excuse for slacking off in my class."

"Geez, I'm sorry, okay?" Alucarda spoke back, avoiding Toralei's gaze. "I just don't see the point of this class. I've never needed this clawculus stuff before, and I'm not gonna need it in the future." A couple of students cheered in agreement.

Toralei frowned and leaned toward Alucarda. "Just how old are you?

"Eh? I turn fifty in a couple of days..."

"Okay smartypants. Lets say, hypothetically, that on your 1st birthday I give you one dollar. Then on your second birthday, I give you two dollars. On your third birthday I give you four dollars. I do this for every birthday you have, doubling the amount each time. Now, how much money would you receive for your 50th?

"Er.." Alucarda's brows furrowed as she tried to add it up in her head. "I dunno... $500,000?"

"Nope!" Toralei moved to the board and began writing a long list of numbers, doubling the number each time. At the end of the list, a ridiculously long number stretched across the board.

"$5,629,499,534,213,12! That's almost six quadrillion. Of course, if I had that kind of money to give you every birthday, I sure as hell wouldn't be here all the time."

Alucarda's jaw dropped. "Whoa..."

"See what I mean?" Toralei looked smug. "Something might look insignificant now, but over time, it can grow to become something really amazing."

She narrowed her gaze on Alucarda. "IF you're willing to put some effort into it. So, no more messing around?"

"Y..yeah, sure!" Alucarda stammered.

"Good.." Toralei purred. She addressed the rest of the class. "Now then! Lets keep your hands busy -and away from your phones - and work on some graphs. Get your pencils out."

The students groaned again. Toralei smirked. It was times like this that she really loved this job.

* * *

_The Jellicle Twins, Meowlody and Purrsephone, were known as Toralei's loyal sidekicks and supporters, often joining in on her antics. After graduation however, the two stepped out from her shadow and moved into very different careers. Meowlody became a food connoisseur and began working for Ghoulish Delights Catering, while Purrsephone got heavily into fitness and ran marathons before working full time as a gym instructor. The two made headlines years ago when they married a set of normie twins from New Salem.. and a couple of years later, again when they both gave birth to triplets._

Shortly after their wedding, Meowlody and her husband Fred moved into a house close to where Purrsephone and her husband Ted lived. It enabled the brothers and sisters to remain close to each other, often one couple would spend the days at the other's house. It was extremely useful at times of duress, when the two really needed each other.

Like now.

Purrsephone pulled on a bright yellow raincoat, and watched at Meowlody put on a matching red coat. As she stepped closer to fasten her sister's buttons, Meowlody placed a rainhat on her head.

"Don't you think this is a bit extreme?" She asked.

Purrsephone frowned. "Are you kidding? You know what we're up against, right?"

"I know, I know.." Meowlody sighed, handing her sister a pair of swimming goggles before putting on a pair herself. "I just wish this wasn't so hard."

"I'm sure it will get better.. someday.."

The two sisters gave each other a fierce hug, drawing strength from each other. With heavy hearts, they made their way to the entrance to the bathroom, where a large bath was waiting, filled with bubbly water.

"KIDS! COME HERE PLEASE!" The two yelled in unison.

Seconds later, the sound of several footsteps racing up the stairs like a herd of buffalo was heard. Six small half-werecat children, three boys and three girls, surrounded the two sisters.

"What's up mom?" Tia asked.

"Why are you and Aunty dressed funny?" Tommy joined in

"Are we playing dress up?" Mia hopped up and down.

"Cool! I'll get my pirate costume!" Donny cheered.

"Are we going out?" Lia asked.

"Can I have a cookie?" Lonny asked.

Meowlody and Purrsephone took a deep breath, and knelt down to address their children. "No kids. It's time for your bath."

All six children noticed the bubbly bath, and took on looks of terror.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" They ran for they lives, scattering in all directions.

The twins sighed. "Here we go.."

Ted and Fred entered the house, having just got back from their jobs.

"Hello? We're home! Everyone all... right?" They trailed off as they took in the sight of the living room. It looked as if a hurricane had hit it. Papers, toys, furniture was strewn about everywhere. Even the couch had been overturned.

Purrsephone and Meowlody trudged into the room. Despite the raincoats and hats they wore, both were soaking wet and looked utterly tired. They glared at their husbands with angry stares.

"Whoa, what happened?" Ted asked.

Meowlody snarled. "Next time..."

"...You're giving them a bath!" Purrsephone finished.

They shoved their wet hats into their husband's faces, then stormed off.

* * *

_Hailing from Mount Olympus, Chariclo Arganthone Cupid ran an incredibly popular radio show at Monster High, dispensing romantic advice to any monster who needed a helping hand in love. After a brief stint at a certain school in a far away land, she has now taken her show nationwide. As well as broadcasting, she also writes her own blog for lovers seeking advice._

Cupid spoke into her microphone "Well Karl, I'm afraid you've only got two choices. You can either get the tattoo removed and move on with your life, or you can spend the rest of your days searching for another soulmate named Deadwina. Thank you for calling."

She cut off the line and slumped back in her chair, letting out a long sigh. As much as she enjoyed working on her love advice show, sometimes it could really drag. There were days when practically every call was either a problem where the solution was ridiculously obvious, or questions that were just plain ridiculous and very, very bizarre.

She nodded at her producer Vesper. "Alright, lets go to our next caller."

"We have Alice on line three." The bee-woman replied.

"Alright.. go ahead, Alice."  
Sobs were heard in her headphones. "Oh.. oh thank for talking to me Miss Cupid... I'm at my wits end!"

"Calm down Alice.. I'm here for you." Cupis spoke in her most soothing voice. "Tell me what's wrong."

"I... I'm so lonely..." Alice sobbed. "I turned a hundred years old yesterday, and everyone around me seems to have someone to love in their lives. I feel like I've missed out on a chance for love."

"Oh Alice..." Cupid consoled. "I think we've all felt like that at one time or another. But if you just look around, you find you're not as alone as you think..."

"But I can never find anyone!" Alice wailed. "Every week I go down to my local bar, hoping that I'll finally meet the perfect monster! But all the good guys must be taken, because all I ever meet are jerks who want one night stands, and it's driving me batty! And yet I'm seriously considering one, just so I don't feel lonely for a little while."

"Please Miss Cupid... why can't I find someone? What do I need to do?"

Cupid took a deep breath, giving time for Alice to calm down. "Alice, I do understand what you're feeling. There's nothing worse than feeling that no one loves you. But i have to ask you something... when was the last time you gave someone some love and affection?"

"What? I don't understand..."

"The way I see it, you keep going to this bar because you think that sooner or later, you'll find a monster who loves you and is perfect for you. But finding a special monster isn't like going to a store and finding that one perfect item you need. Love is something that grows over time. When people share their feelings and hearts with each other, those feelings become even stronger. But it can only happen if you're willing to give that love to someone yourself, and simply offering yourself to some random guy who's not willing to share it back is not going to help you."

"I... I guess... but then what am I meant to do?"

"In my experience, the best way to find love, is to share it as many people as you can. And I don't mean just boyfriends and girlfriends, but everyone in between. Love comes in many shapes and forms, and there are lots of people who need it. The homeless, the elderly, or just people who need a friend.. if you're willing to give care and affection to everyone who needs it, you can't help but draw love back to you."

"That.. that sounds a little daunting.." Alice spoke.

"It can be at first, but if you're willing to try, it can open up whole new worlds to you. I can't tell you how long it will take until you find your special monster, but until then, you could make a whole lot of friends and learn a lot about yourself, if you're willing to open your heart a little more."

"I.. I guess you're right!" Alice sounded a little stronger. "I'll try.. I'll really try! I mean, anything's got to be better than this."

"I'm sure it will all work out for you." Cupid replied, smiling. "If you like, perhaps you could call me back on a later date, let me know how things work out for you."

"I will... thank you Miss Cupid." Alice sounded eternally grateful as she hung up.

Cupid smiled as she turned off the line. "Good luck to you Alice. We're all rooting for you."

* * *

_Monster High's self styled comedian Billy Phadin could often be sighted (or not, in his case) plotting brilliant jokes and tricks on both students and teachers, though thankfully his tricks were more of the lighthearted variety, and thanks to secret cameras he soon became a FrightTube celebrity. Today he is a well renowned comedian, with stand up shows all over the country._

Billy sighed with relief as he walked through the back door of his home. It had been a long, tiring tour, and the last gig had been particulary rough. But he could finally leave that behind for a few weeks, and spend some time with Twyla.

His girlfriend was standing by the counter, her back turned to him.

"You're back." She spoke

"That I am." He dropped his luggage on the floor and grabbed a seat by the table. "I am beat... I would have got back sooner, but my last show ran a little late. A bunch of frat boys were heckling me the whole time."

He grinned. "I got them back in the end though. I turned on the old stealth mode and swiped their cellphones, then showed the entire audience all the embarrassing photos on them. Man, the look on their faces..."

He paused as he realized Twyla didn't seem to be listening, her back still to him.

"Hey.. is something wrong?"

Twyla's voice was almost a whisper. "Billy.. there is something I need to say. And I need you to listen."

"Okaaay... what's up? You sound a little down. Did you eat one of those dreams where someone's naked in their high school again?" Billy chuckled.

"Billy!" Twyla turned to face him, her luminous eyes blazing. "This is really important."

"Sorry." He mumbled. He was beginning to sense this was serious. "So what is it?

"Well... I had an appointment with the doctor today..."

"Whoa!" Billy leapt up and gripped her shoulders.. "You went to the doctors? Are you sick?"

"It.. it's nothing bad!"

"Then why do you look so terrified?"

"Please.. calm down." She pleaded.

"Sorry, sorry.." He looked into her eyes, trying to stay calm in the face of something terrible happening to his ghoulfriend. "Please.. whatever it is, just tell me."

"I will, its just..." Twyla trembled slightly. "Promise me you won't freak out, okay

"I'm here." Billy assured. "Whatever it is, I'll be here."

Moments of silence passed before Twyla took a deep breath. "I... I'm pregnant."

Billy was stunned. He stood with his eyes wide and his jaw hanging for several seconds. Then just when Twyla thought she would have to prevent him from fainting, he burst into life.

"OH MY GOD! That.. that it... holy crap!"

He wrapped his arms around her tight, causing her to squeak in surprise. "Ah! Billy.."

"Good grief, Twyla! I seriously thought you were dying or something!" Billy exclaimed.

"Don't yell." Twyla tried to shush him. "Do you want everyone in the neighborhood to hear you?"

"Hell yes!" Billy pumped his arms in the air. "We're gonna be parents! This is awesome!"

He slowed down when he saw Twyla's pensive look. "This... this is awesome, right? I mean... you are happy about this?"

She looked away shyly. "Well... yeah. Sure. Of course.."

"Are you scared?"

"Well... a little."

Billy stepped closer and held her tightly to his chest. "Hey, don't worry. We're gonna figure this all out together."

"I know.." She hugged him back. "I love you so much..."

"I love you too..." He kissed her forehead gently.

Then he grinned. "Hey and you know.. if this kid inherits my invisibility and your shadow powers... we could train him to be the ultimate spy. No one would be able to find him or her."

Twyla sighed. "You are such a dork..."

* * *

_One of Monster High's first transfer students from Hexico, Skelita Calaveras brought with her her fabulous fashion style and spellbinding tales of her family life. She could often be seen telling stories in history class, and was a regular member of the Catacombs Exploration Club. Today, she works as a fashion retailer, hunting down the hottest fashion designers on the planet of behalf of the trendiest stores in Hexico and around the world._

_Hailing from Fanghai, China, Jinafire Long may have looked like a delicate lily, but many soon discovered she possessed a passionate temper as hot as the fire she breathed. As well as immersing herself in the arts such as sculpting and calligraphy, winning prizes in school contests, she also helped start martial arts and medication clubs. Today she lives in Fanghai as a teacher at her family's temple and cultural center, teaching the ancient arts to a new generation._

Seated outside a local cafe, Jinafire took a sip of her green tea, and motioned for her companion to do the same. Considering how much the young ghoul was jittering nervously, she probably needed it more than she did.

"Calm yourself, Ming. Everything will be fine."

"How do you know, Master?" The petite, dark haired jiangshi rubbed her arms. "What if she doesn't like my designs? What if she tells everyone I suck online!?" Ming was now shivering so much, brushes and pencils were falling from the huge sleeves of her silk tunic.

"She won't" Jinafire assured. "I've known this woman for many years. Whether she likes your designs or not, she will be nothing but fair and supportive."

"I hope so..."

"Jinafire!" A Hexican accented voice called out. Jinafire looked down the street to see Skelita weaving through the Fanghai crowds to approach their table. The calaca was fashionably dressed in a vibrant business suit.

"Dos mio, it's so good to see you again!" She wrapped Jinafire in a welcoming hug.

"Yes, it's been far too long." Jinafire beckoned her to sit. "There has been so much to do, and so little time to do it in."

"Tell me about it." Skelita sagged in fatigue. "I've taken about seven flights in the last week or so, trying to buy up some new designs for Morgue and Spencer's fall collection. I'm thankful this trip is the last one. I'm worried I won't be able to get back home in time for Bonita's birthday."

"Oh.. how old is she again?" Jinafire asked.

"She turns five, and Maro is almost three." Skelita sighed. "They're growing up so fast... I can't believe how much time has gone by."

"I know what you mean." Jinafire said, a tinge of sadness in her voice. "It seems like yesterday that I took in my first students. Now they've grown up and have set out to start their own lives and families. And speaking of students.."

She turned to gesture at Ming. "This is Ming Zha, the one who wanted to meet you."

Ming had been sitting quietly checking over her sketchbook while the two elders had been talking. When Jinafire addressed her, she jumped in her seat, sending more pencils flying from the sleeves.

"Oh my, forgive me..." She gathered her wits and stood up, bowing to Skelita. "It is an honour to meet you, Mrs Boneasera."

"It's an honour to meet you too. Jinafire tells me you are quite the designer." Skelita replied.

Ming blushed. "I... I have always wanted to design clothes. It is why I came to Master Long to learn how. But I do not think I am that good compared to others..."  
Jinafire crossed her arms. "Ming, your work is excellent. You must have more confidence in yourself."

"I know, I know... I just don't want to disappoint anyone or get their hopes up." Ming said quietly.

"I'm sure I won't be disappointed." Skelita assured her. "May I see what you have?"

Ming handed her a large sketchbook, then began wringing her hands nervously as she watched Skelita leafed through the pages, her eyes widening as she took in Ming's ornate sketches.

"Oh my... these are muy bueno!"

"Erm.. does that mean you like them?"  
"Ming, these are beautiful." Skelita smiled at her. "The use of colours.. and these sleeve designs. I haven't seen anything like these."

"Th.. thank you. I took inspiration from clothes my ancestors once wore, but updated them a little."

"Well, I love them. And you know, I'm willing to bet my employers at Morgue and Spencers would be interested in them too."

Ming gasped. "You mean, they might make them into clothes? To actually sell?"

Skelita nodded. "Yes. Eastern and Oriental inspired designs are quite popular at the moment, and we've been looking for clothes such as these for our fall line. If I have your permission, I would love to show these designs to my bosses and see what they think."

Ming turned pale. Jinafire patted her student's shoulder. "Well, that is good news, isn't it? And you thought she wouldn't like them."

Ming suddenly burst into life and wrapped her arms around Skelita, jumping up and down with joy as she hugged her. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou..."

"Ai yi, calm down!" Skelita pleaded. As the jiangshi jumped, several pens, papers, and other random art supplies like rulers, erasers and crayons flew out of her sleeves, all over Skelita.

"Oh no!" Ming stepped back and bowed. "I'm so sorry!"

Skelita pulled out a pencil which has gotten stuck in her shoulder bone. "It's alright."

Jinafire sighed, but that couldn't stop the look of pride she cast at her student.

* * *

_Armed with six, well, arms, and endless enthusiasm for all things arts and crafts, Wydowna Spider was easily one of the busiest students to ever grace Monster High, and one of the most helpful and supportive. From art classes to community and charity events, to even getting involved in preventing an attempt by a secret anti-normie league to take over the school, evidence of Wydowna's remarkable handiwork can be found everywhere. Today she works as a freelance seamstress and illustrator, plying her craft in between caring for her family._

Wydowna stood by the stove, humming as she stirred a pot of spaghetti sauce with her lower right hand. Her two upper arms carefully held her six month old daughter Webigail as she fed her a bottle of milk.

A beeping alerted her to her tablet resting on the side. She noticed her FaceSpook page had several new friend notifications, and began sifting through them using her middle left hand.

Suddenly her phone rang. Swapping the spoon to her lower left hand, she grabbed her phone from her pocket with her right and answered it.

"Hello? Oh Clawdeen, so nice to hear from you. What are you up to ghoul?"

She sprinkled some pepper into the pot with her middle right hand as she talked. "Oh, not much, just getting dinner ready. It's the easiest thing I've done today, honestly..."

She noticed Anansi Jr, her five year old son, walking up to her. He held a Masked Monster action figure, still in it's plastic packaging.

"Hey mom, could you help me open this? It's really tough..."

Wydowna deftly swapped Webigail the spoon and phone to her lower four arms before taking the package in her upper hands. She used her claws to tear the plastic open and free the figure, handing it to Junior. "Here you go, sweetie."

"Thanks mom!" Junior ran off, making blaster noises as he waved his toy about. He ran past Silvia as she entered the kitchen. Unlike the rest of the family, Wydowna's adopted daughter was a young dragongirl with pale grey skin and red hair.

"Wydowna, could you sign this for me?" She held out some papers. "It's for a school field trip to M.A.D Labs. I need to give it to Mr Hack."

"Just a moment Clawdeen..." Wydowna tossed the phone into the air and caught it with her upper right hand, while also transferring Webigail into the crook of her middle right arm. This left her two upper left arms free to take the forms and grab a pencil from a drawer. She looked over the forms and signed where she needed to.

"Okay, you're good to go." She handed the papers back, then used her free hands to place some spaghetti into some boiling water, grab a block of cheese and a grater, and resume browsing on her tablet., all while still holding Webigail, her phone, and stirring the sauce.

Silvia looked at this impressive display of dexterity. "Um... are you sue you don't need a hand with anything?"

"Oh no, I'm fine." Wydowna smiled. She then noticed Webigail was nodding off. "Actually, would you ming putting Webby down for a nap?"

"Sure." Silvia gently took the baby arachne from her mother's arms, and rocked her in her own arms. "Come on, lets give your mom a little rest."

Wydowna smiled as she watched Silvia coo at Webigail, before returning to the stove. With her lower arms free she was able to grab a colander and drain the pasta while grating the cheese at the same time.

She lifted her phone back up. "Hey, sorry about that Clawdeen. You know what's it like, its always all hands on deck around here..."

* * *

_Of course, there were a few students who were unable to attend the reunion, but were able to send letters and texts of congratulations and well wishes. And there are some who seem to have dropped off the face of the earth. If any of them out there are reading this, send us a line and let us know how you're doing. We'd love to hear from you._

"So you looking to go overseas eh?" The short werecat dock foreman spoke in halting english as he led Andy towards the Fanghai docks. "You traveling student on gap year or something?"

"I haven't been a student for years." Andy replied, surveying his new workplace. "I'm just trying to move to a new home."

"Oh? Where you going?"

"America. A small town in Oregon actually. But I need some travel fare, so here I am."

The foreman laughed. "America? Ha ha! You're gonna be working here long time to get a ticket. Air fare costs fortune these days. Might be easier to catch life on boat. We got plenty to go round here."

"Tell me about it..." Andy sighed. "But I'm willing to do what it takes to get there."

The foreman raised an eyebrow. "Why you so eager? Got a girlfriend back there you missing?"

Andy blushed slightly. "Something like that..."

"Well, since you so eager, we start you on work right away!"  
The foreman pointed towards a large stack of crates piled up several feet high on one of the docks, where a container ship was moored. "You see crates there? We need them loaded up onto ship there! Think you can do it?"

"Sure thing." Andy said confidently. "It might take a while though, that's a lot of crates."

"Well then, better get started! I'm on break if you need me." The foreman slapped Andy's back and walked off towards a small hut.

"Wait. Should I use a trolley or something?" Andy called.

"If you can find one, sure!" The foreman waved back, leaving Andy to glare him with annoyance.

Inside the hut, the foreman opened up a lunchbox and took out a large tuna salad, which be began eating with relish.

He was so focused on his meal, he didn't bother to look out the window at Andy. And thus he didn't see Andy strip down to his underwear. And then transform into a fifty foot tall giant.

The giant began picking up the crates, grabbing two at a time easily with his massive hands. Thanks to his height, he was easily able to reach up and place the crates on the deck of the container ship.

The foreman finished his lunch, and stepped outside the hut. His eyes bugged out when he saw all the crates were now loaded on the ship.

"W.. what the.."

"Sir?" Andy stepped forward, now back to his normal size. "I'm finished with those crates. Do you need me to do anything else?"

The foreman looked back and forth at Andy and the crates, his mind trying to comprehend what happened.  
Then he gave up and pulled a flask of whiskey out of his pocket and took a long swig from it.

"Take a break." He muttered, walking away in a confused daze.

* * *

_And what about me, you ask? Well, not much has changed. I still report the local news and gossip around Salem, though this time I actually get paid for doing it. I regularly write articles for local blogs and for Eternal Ghoul Magazine. And I still like to keep an eye and ear open to the goings on of my close friends. What can I say, they're always interesting to watch. And now that they're all grown up, I can't wait to see what kind of adventures they'll be having. Mark my words, if there are any juicy stories surrounding the town's most famous monsters, you loyal readers will be the first to hear about it..._

"Wha'cha writing?"

Before Spectra could react, a pair of ghostly blue arms shot through her chest, grabbed her laptop, and yanked it back through her body.

She spun around and glared at the pale white ghost girl with white and blue striped hair who was currently reading her article. "Do you mind?"

Phantasma ignored her and continued reading. "Wow, so these are all the ghouls you want to school with? The ones you were always writing about in your school blog?"

"Yep. save one or two I who didn't attend.." Spectra replied.

"And you're seriously going to keep writing gossip about them? They're not that interesting, surely."

Spectra smirked. "Trust me, if you knew half the crazy stuff that happened during my school years... lets just say those ghouls always make life interesting. And what ever does happen, will make a killer story for my blog."

Phantasma put the laptop down and floated closer to Spectra. "Well, that's nice and all.."

She wrapped her arms around Spectra. "But you know... I really wish you'd spend a bit less time following other monster's lives and concentrate on your own instead."

Spectra shifted closer, placing her hands of Phantasma's waist. "My life isn't all that interesting."

"Of course it is! It's got me in it." Phantasma's voice turned sultry. "And you know I can always liven things up."

"I guess we have been apart for a while..." Spectra smiled and gave her ghoulfriend a kiss. "We should do something special, just the two of us. Maybe go out, have a night on the town."

"Or we could just stay in and fool around." Phantasma replied, smiling wickedly. "Whatever sounds more fun."

"As long as its with you.. it's always fun..." Spectra breathed as she moved in closer for a more passionate kiss.

The lives and gossip of her friends could wait. For now, there was only one ghoul who mattered to her.

END OF CHAPTER 2

* * *

Author Notes

1: My apologies for the long wait, this chapter ended up being a bit more difficult to write than I thought. But I wanted to give every character a bit of development, and there was some fun, and a bit of achallenge in writing them as adults and envisoning careers for them, while keeping them in character and respecting that they may have changed in ten years. The next chapter will see the plot truly kick in.

2: The events mentioned in Wydowna's entry refer to the events of the Monster High Ghoulfriends book series.

3: As before, a few characters from other monster-based fandoms appear in this story. Can you spot them all?


	3. The Secret

Monster Life

By Toby Danger

_Monster High is copyright of Mattel. All other characters mentioned are copyright of their original creators_

* * *

Chapter 3: The Secret

Frankie grunted as she carried another of her mother's carryall bags out to the sidewalk. She dropped next it to the pile of bags already stacked up there.

"Mom, do you really need all these bags? You're not going away forever, you know."

Viveka looked at her daughter incredulously. "We're on a ten day cruise, on one of the must luxurious ships I've ever seen, visiting some of the most glamorous cities on the Scaribbean Coast. I would be remiss if I looked less than fabulous every day I'm there."

She smirked. "And how often do I and your father get a chance to let our hair down and really go to town?"

Frankie couldn't disagree. Her parents were usually the most sensible, straight laced monsters around. They had to be, given their work. So it made sense for them to let loose for a little while on their anniversary cruise. After all, it wasn't every couple who reached their 150th wedding anniversary.

Frankie's father Viktor stomped out of the house, lugging two large cases. He was dressed in a light shirt and ludicrously bright shorts, both of which looked a bit too small for his muscular frame.

"Okay, we're good to go. I just packed some extra thread, some packs of plasma, and all the spare car batteries we could ever need."

"Are you sure you have everything?" Viveka asked. "You have the tickets, right?"

Viktor frowned. "Darling, I've spent the last year saving every spare penny I had to pay for this trip. Do you really think I'm going to forget the tickets now?"

Viveka crossed her arms. "So, where are they?"

"Well, they're right here.." Viktor checked his pocket, and was alarmed when he discovered the tickets weren't there. He checked his other pockets, and then began rapidly patting himself over. "Er... I put them somewhere close..."

Frankie chuckled. "Dad, they're in your wallet. You put them in there earlier remember?"

Viktor checked his wallet, and breathed a sigh of relief as he found the tickets. Viveka sighed.

A minivan taxi pulled up, and Frankie assisted her parents in loading their luggage onto it.

"Well, that's us." Viveka declared. "Thanks for seeing us off."

"It was my pleasure." Frankie replied. "Plus I wanted to see you two before you left. I know we haven't talked in a while..."

"I'll say!" Viktor spoke. "You've been really busy with all this overtime you've been doing... you probably need a vacation more than we do."

"Yeah..." Frankie glanced sideways. "Sorry about that."

Viktor looked at his daughter with concern. "Is everything alright, Frankie? You look really tired..."

Frankie shook her head and put on a smile. "I'm fine, really. I'm just a little weary from doing paperwork. Don't worry about me, just concentrate on enjoying your cruise."

"Well, if you're sure.."

"Come on, we have to go to catch the boat." Viveka gave Frankie a warm hug. "You take it easy, alright?"

"I will Mom." Frankie assured. "You two have a great time."

She gave her father a hug before the two piled into the minivan. As it drove off, she waved goodbye until they vanished into the horizon.

Frankie let out a sigh, feeling satisfied, and also relieved. It was wonderful to see her parents, two of the kindest, hard working monsters she knew, finally taking some well earned time for themselves and each other.

But it was also a relief to know she wouldn't have to worry about telling them the truth for another week or so.

As she began walking towards home, her thoughts were of the grand project she had begun. It was four months since that night after the school reunion when she had realized her dream to change her life, and now that dream was edging closer to completion. She had honestly expected the project to take a lot longer, but a combination of medical advances in the last ten years and a few strokes of good luck, she had managed to complete the majority of her work much quicker than anticipated. Which was great, but added the problem that she would have to reveal her project sooner rather than later.

She hadn't told anyone what she had been doing. Not even her parents or her closest friends were aware. She had considered telling them early on, but the fear that they would object to her vision, or even try to prevent it, had kept her from speaking out. They were always supportive of her but she had a feeling their reaction to what she was doing wouldn't be entirely positive...

Still, that was a problem for another time. For now, she had to concentrate on the last few details of the project. She only needed to do a few more things before she could take the final step.

Her iCoffin beeped as she received a text. She smiled as she read it. The antenna was finally ready for pick-up.

* * *

Inside the Coffin Bean, two old friends were catching up over coffee and muffins. And one friend had a story to tell.

"...So we invited Romulus, Scarlett, Bram and Gory over for dinner, to chat about baby stuff, you know. Then afterward we decided to have a glass of wine. Just a little though. Only when Clawd poured it, we found out it wasn't wine after all, but blood! The smell was so strong I passed out on the couch, and Scarlett was so freaked out she nearly gave birth then and there!"

Clawdeen's eyes widened as Laura related her disastrous dinner story. "Whoa... that is a mood breaker. How did a whole bottle of blood get in there?"

"Papa snuck it in there on his last visit." Laura huffed. "I swear, every time he comes over he keeps insisting I need to drink more blood to keep the baby healthy. I know he's just concerned, but it's driving me batty!"

"Sounds like my mom when my brother's wives were pregnant. She kept shoving food in front on them, saying they needed to put more weight on." Clawdeen chuckled. "But doesn't he have a point about the extra blood?"

"I do need to drink a bit more blood yes, but I don't need gallons of the stuff every day. I'm just fine with an extra pint of so mixed with a milkshake."

"How is the little guy anyway?" Clawdeen asked, staring at Laura's stomach. In the last few months it had become noticeably swollen.

Laura smiled as she rubbed her belly gently. "Fine. We've had no trouble, apart from me outgrowing my clothes, which sucks. I've been going over to Frankie's to have a regular check up. She says we're both doing fine."

"Really? I didn't know she knew obstetrics."

"She says she's just started studying on the side. She thought I would be a great study aid, and since her place is closer to mine than the hospital, it works out for both of us." Laura beamed. "And on top of all her other studies... I don't know how she does it all."

"Yeah..." Clawdeen frowned, thinking of their friend's recent absences. "You know, I'm starting to get worried about her."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I haven't seen her for weeks. We talk on the phone, but every time I try to talk her into meeting up somewhere, she says that she can't do it, that she's busy with something. I think I've only talked to her in person twice in the last month."

"Other than our check ups, I haven't seen her much either. But she is a doctor, so of course she's going to be busy. Heck, we've all gotten swamped with work stuff recently." Laura shrugged.

"I know, but she's never THAT busy. She always tries to get us together for a coffee break, even if just for a little while. Spending time with us is important to her, you know that." Clawdeen spoke back.

"Yeah, you're right." Laura agreed. "Still, I wonder what on Earth she's been doing lately to keep her so occupied."

"Hmm.. plus, the last time I saw her, she was acting a little weird."

"Weird... how?"

Clawdeen sat back in her chair as she thought back to three weeks ago. "Well, it was at the Maul. I was with my brother Howie at Scythes Toy Store helping him find a birthday gift for his son..."

* * *

"Check this out!" Howie held up a box containing five brightly coloured, spandex clad action figures armed with swords. "The new Power Monsters! He would totally love these!"

Clawdeen crossed her arms and glared at her younger brother. "How old does it say those toys are for?"

"Umm.." Howie checked the box. "Eight years and up."

"And how old is Cody?"

"He's.. two." Howie answered weakly. "But he's really smart for his age!"

Howie's ears flattened in shame as Clawdeen yanked the box from his hands. "Go to the preschool section and get him a proper toy. One that'll teach him something, and something he won't choke on."

"Fine..." Howie huffed away towards the far end of the shop.

Clawdeen looked at the Power Monsters figures, sighing as she put it back. Her mother was right, boys never really grew up, they just got taller.

She was about to join Howie when she noticed a familiar figure with white and black streaked hair, pushing a trolley down the isle.

"Frankie? Is that you?"  
Frankie jumped in surprise as Clawdeen approached. "Clawdeen! Hi... er.. what are doing here?"

"I'm helping Howie pick something up for Cody's birthday." Clawdeen looked at the trolley full of toys her friend was pushing. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, just doing some shopping.." Frankie spoke, trying to sound casual. Clawdeen couldn't help but notice the nervousness in her voice.

"Sooo... what's with the toys?"

"Oh, these? These are... for the hospital! Yeah!"

"The hospital?"

"That's right." Frankie nodded a little too quickly. "They're for the children's ward. We've been meaning to get some new toys to replace all the old ones, but you know what management is like, it takes them ages to get anything done. So I thought I would cut out the middleman and get some myself."

Clawdeen looked at the toys a little closer. There was quite a selection there, from plush toys to electronic learning devices, to Lego blocks and the new Screech Valley High fashion dolls which were popular right now.

"Wow... that's nice of you Frankie, but you shouldn't have to pay for all this. It's your bosses' job to get these things, not yours."

"It's okay, I'll make sure they pay me back." Frankie waved a hand dismissively. "I just think it's important that sh.. the kids have something to play with."

She checked her watch, then grabbed the trolley. "I'm really sorry Clawdeen, I have a ton of things to do, can I call you later?"

"Um, sure.." Before Clawdeen could finish, Frankie was already on the move.

"Great! I'll talk to you later! See ya!" She raced down the hall, pushing the trolley toward the checkout as fast as she could.

Clawdeen watched her go, so confused she barely noticed Howie approach her with a new toy...

* * *

"Buying toys for the hospital? That doesn't seem too odd." Laura spoke as Clawdeen finished retelling her story.

"It was the way she was acting that bothered me. She was really jumpy and eager to get away from her for some reason. Why would you act like that when you're just buying toys for sick kids? Not to mention she didn't call me until the next day." Clawdeen reasoned.

Laura frowned in thought. "You know... I seem to recall something that was off when I last saw Frankie for my check up."

"Really? What was it?"

"It was about the same week you saw her at the Maul." Laura leaned back in her chair. "I didn't think much of it at the time, but looking back it did seem kinda odd...

* * *

Laura moaned slightly as she walked up the path towards Frankie's front door. At about four months into her pregnancy, her belly was reaching a size where it was beginning to weigh down on her.

"You're definitely going to be as big as your dad.." She sighed , looking down at her bump as she rang the doorbell

It took a couple of minutes before Frankie opened the door, and when she did, Laura was surprised. She expected Frankie to be wearing her trusty lab coat, or some other kind of sensible, yet stylish ensemble.

Instead she was wearing a pair of old, worn in overalls over a ratty t-shirt. Her hair was tied up in a bandana, and there were flecks of paint all over her. She looked surprised to see Laura as she was.

"Laura! How are you? You look great." She spoke cheerily.

"Yeah you look... nice too.." Laura replied uneasily, looking over Frankie's clothes.

"So, what brings you here?"

Laura blinked. "I'm here for my check up. It is today, right?"

Frankie gasped in realization. "Oh my goth! I completely forgot you were coming over! I am so sorry, I was wrapped up in something else!"

"It's okay. We can just reschedule..."

"No, you came all this way. Please come in." Frankie look her hand and led her inside. "Just give me a moment to change, and I'll be right down to start the examination."

Frankie ran off to her bedroom, leaving Laura to stand in the hall. Deciding to get comfortable, she walked toward Frankie's study room, knowing the layout by heart having visited enough times.

She got another shock when she entered the room. The room was completely empty. Frankie's desk, her charts, her bookshelf of medical journals, the table she used for her impromptu medical check ups... they were all gone. Plus, the room had been painted in a pale yellow colour.

"Oh there you are!" Frankie spoke as she approached, now in a jumper and skirt.

"What happened to your office?"

"Oh, I moved everything into that small spare room I have. I'm turning this room into a guest bedroom. I was just painting it when you arrived."

"Really? How come?"

"Well, er..." Frankie seemed to struggle to reply. "I just thought... it would be useful to have one, you know. In case anyone needs to stay over."

"I guess, but.." Laura looked around the room. "It seems a little big for a guest bedroom, doesn't it? Why not use that spare room?"

"Well... I think guests deserve a bit of space. I didn't have a lot of things in here when it was a study, so why not put the space to better use?"

Frankie took Laura's hand. "Now how about we start the examination?

"Okaaay.." Laura followed Frankie to her new study, curious as to why her friend seemed so jumpy.

With the examination completed and given a clean bill of health, Laura started on her way home. Frankie promised she would call later, then ran off back into the depths of the house before Laura even reached her car. Laura reckoned she was probably just busy with something...

When she returned home, Clawd was waiting for her with a hug.

"So, is everything okay?"

Laura smiled. "The little one and I are doing fine, though she says we should book a sonogram soon."

"Great." Clawd grinned. "Hey, close your eyes, I wanna show you something."

Playing along, Laura closed her eyes and let Clawd lead her upstairs. When he beckoned her to open her eyes, she was met with the sight of a large room, with a small crib and some drawers set up nearby.

"I finished the nursery." Clawd declared proudly. "What do you think?"

"Oh Clawd, it's wonderful! It's..." Laura trailed off as she took in the whole room. She saw that the walls were painted a pale yellow colour.

The exact same colour Frankie had painted her new bedroom.

"Clawd, what colour paint is that?"

"Erm, Jaundice Yellow, or something like that." Clawd replied. "Since we agreed to keep the baby's gender a surprise, I didn't want to just paint it blue or pink. So I looked up your Good Tombkeeping magazine, and they said this is a really popular colour for kid's rooms these days."

He looked worried as he noticed Laura staring at the walls. "Do you like it? I can change it if you want.."

"No no no! It's perfect." Laura hugged him. "I just thought I saw that colour somewhere before..."

* * *

"Frankie painted her office the same colour as your nursery?" Clawdeen asked as Laura finished. "I dunno, it could be a coincidence."

"I guess, but why would she paint a spare bedroom a colour of a kid's room? And why the sudden need for a guest room anyway?"

"I'm more worried that she never called you back..." Clawdeen shook her head. "She's gotta be doing something, but what?"

"Whoa, Draculaura!" A familiar voice purred. They turned to see Toralei had approached their table. "I know you wanted to be bigger during high school, but I thought you meant taller, not wider."

Laura's face flushed red. "That's not funny!"

"Okay, I'm sorry!" Toralei held up her hands, sniggering. "It was just a joke. It know what it's like, believe me. When I was pregnant, I was a blimp."

"What are you doing here?" Laura asked, frowning.

"Just having some retail therapy while Nekora is with her grandparents." Toralei indicated the shopping bag she carried. "I was getting a drink when I saw you ghouls being all serious. What's up?"

"We were talking about Frankie. We've haven't seen her in ages, and it feels like she's avoiding us..." Clawdeen explained, when an idea struck her. "Hey, you haven't seen her around, have you?"

"Me? Well, once in a while." Toralei shrugged. "We sometimes run into each other in the grocery store, shoot the breeze for a minute or so, but that's it."

"Has she been acting... odd, at all?" Laura asked. "Or did she say anything unusual?"

"No stranger than she usually is." Toralei scratched her head in thought. "Although, this one conversation we had kinda sticks out."

Laura and Clawdeen leaned in closer. "Could you tell us? It might be important."

"Okaaaay.." Toralei took a nearby chair, watching the curious ghouls warily. "But she didn't act or say anything weird. I just remember this because she asked me something no one else had ever asked before."

"What did she ask?"

"Gimme a chance to talk, will you? It was about two months ago. I was at the park with Nekora, and she happened to be walking by. So she stopped for a chat..."

* * *

"She's really athletic." Frankie commented as she and Toralei watched Nekora climbing across the monkey bars at the local playground. Both women were sat on a nearby bench.

"Yep, she gets that natural grace from me." Toralei said proudly, stretching out. She frowned as she watched her daughter flip up to the top of the monkey bars and balance precariously on them. "I'm not sure where she gets the energy from though. That's why I took her here before we went to the dentist. I figure if she tires herself out here, she won't cause a fuss when she has to sit in the chair."

"Sounds like a plan." Frankie said. "I know what its like to examine unruly kids, believe me."

"Maybe you could loan me a gurney to strap her down on before I go?" The two chuckled at the joke, before lapsing into a content silence. Toralei noticed Frankie was staring at the playground, watching Nekora and the other kids playing with a pensive look on her face.

"You okay?"

"Oh um.. yes." Frankie replied. She still looked nervous as she faced Toralei. "Actually.. I have a question I want to ask you."

"If it involves moving furniture, you can forget it.."

"No no! It's more of a personal question. You don't have to answer it if you don't want to..."

"Meh, I'm game. What is it?"

Frankie was silent for a few moments, fiddling with her fingers nervously before she spoke. "What's it like.. being a mother?"

Toralei blinked. "Whoa... that's er... no one's ever asked me that before. Wouldn't it be better to ask your mom?"

"Yeah, but it's not quite the same. Mom took care of me when I was mentally 15 years old. She never got to experience what it's like caring for a child." Frankie explained.

Toralei raised an eyebrow. "Why are you asking, anyway?"

"I'm just... curious. I'm only ten years old, you know. There are lots of things I've not experienced yet."

Toralei wasn't quite sure how to answer her, but Frankie's pleading gaze caused her to relent.

"Alright, well... if I had to describe it, I'd say motherhood is a series of small moments of joy as you watch a tiny, amazing monster grow up... mixed in with days of frustration when said monster drives you up the wall!"

Frankie's face turned pale at that comment.

"It's not all bad." Toralei explained. "But on the bad days, it can feel like everything is going downhill all at once. Especially if you're looking after a baby. Feeding it, changing it, trying to get it to sleep..."

She glanced at Nekora.. "You've probably figured it out already, but I had Nekora when I was still in college. I was dumb, reckless, and I made a lot of stupid choices, including the kind that got me pregnant in the first place. When I was giving birth, I was ready to just give her up for adoption. I really didn't want to be a mom, and I thought it would be better to just give her to someone else."

She smiled as she recalled the memory. "But then they put her in my arms, and she looked at me in a way no one but my parents had looked at me before. I can't quite describe it. It was... I dunno, like she truly loved me, and needed me. And I knew that if I let her go, I'd regret it for the rest of my life. So we went home together."

Frankie was enraptured as Toralei continued. "I won't deny that raising her was a challenge, especially at the beginning. But its been a lot of fun as well. I love playing with her and helping her learn, and there's just something fulfilling about watching her grow up. She's always coming up with these crazy ideas for fun things to do, she loves being active. and it's great to help her grow up to be a good person..."

She frowned when she realized Nekora was trying to climb a nearby tree. "..even though she never listens half the time... NEKORA!" She bellowed.

"What?!" Nekora called back to her.

"Were you trying to eat some birds again?"

Nekora looked guiltily at a bird's nest resting in the tree's branches. "Um... no?"

Toralei gave her a disapproving frown. "Get down from there now. We are not going to the dentist with feathers stuck in your teeth."

Nekora huffed and dropped down from the tree. Toralei sighed.

"See what I mean?

Frankie chuckled. "Yeah.. still, you seem to be handling it well."

"Well, I have learned to be a pretty patient over the years. That's another nice thing about motherhood. It makes you want to be a better monster. I know I've grown up a lot since I gave birth. I kinda had to, really. Pulling pranks does not pay the bills."

Toralei checked her watch. "Aw damn, I have to go, our appointment is due."

She called for Nekora to return as she got up. "So, did that answer your question? I'm not exactly good with all this deep meaning stuff..."

Frankie nodded. "Yeah.. that cleared up a lot of things for me. Thank you."

"Eh, no worries." Toralei shrugged. She took Nekora's hand. "Well, we gotta go. Say goodbye to Miss Stein."

"Bye Miss Stein." Nekora replied cheerily.

As Toralei led her away, the young girl waved at Frankie, who waved back with a bright smile.

* * *

"And that was it really. Nothing unusual, just Frankie being nosy." Toralei shrugged.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound too unusual for Frankie." Clawdeen conceded. "Still, it's a kinda random question to ask.."

"She was probably just curious. I mean, other than the twins and Wydowna, I'm the only old classmate who still lives in town and has a kid. Present company excepted." Toralei suggested, glancing at Laura.

She gathered up her bags. "Well, if you see Frankie, tell her I said hi, and I hope she's okay. I gotta go."

With that, Toralei made her way out of the cafe, leaving Laura and Clawdeen deep in thought.

"So, does asking Toralei for advice count as weird?" Laura asked.

"If we were back in school I would have said yes, but Toralei isn't the jackass she used to be. Maybe she really was the best person to ask."

"Why not come to us, or her parents first though?" Laura folded her arms under her chin. "She's still totally avoiding us."

"Maybe not all of us." Clawdeen pulled out her iCoffin. "Maybe some of the other ghouls have seen her around."

"Good idea!" Laura grabbed her own phone. "Lets start calling."

* * *

Unfortunately, their calls didn't get much results. Cleo was too busy with the latest issue of her magazine to even notice Frankie had been absent. Lagoona had been busy settling into her and Gil's new workplace, and had only talked to Frankie occasionally over the phone, and only for brief chats. Robecca, Howleen, Twyla, Wydowna and Scarah gave the same answers, only spotting her in town here and there. Even Spectra didn't have a clue as to what Frankie was doing, something that disturbed the gossipy ghost herself.

It was Ghoulia who was able to give them a more concrete answer.

"She visited me at M.A.D Labs a couple of months ago." She explained, her phone automatically translating her zombie speak into an electronic English voice. "She wanted my opinion on a scientific problem she was working on..."

* * *

Inside one of M.A.D Lab's huge hangars which served as testing areas, Ghoulia took her place behind a small, desk mounted control panel.

A short distance away, Professor Reginald Moonshroud, one of M.A.D's top minds, was preparing to test his latest invention. The tall lanky werewolf adjusted his crash helmet as he stepped into a small golf cart, with large solar panels attached to the roof.

Once strapped in he looked to Ghoulia. "Alright, we're ready to begin, Mrs Mortavich. Let's start slow and work our way up. Give me about 10% intensity."

Ghoulia nodded and turned a dial on her controls. Up above, a large skylight partially opened, letting a thin beam of moonlight shine into the room, and onto the golf cart. Moments later, its engine spluttered to life, and the cart began slowly moving forwards.

"Ha ha, yes!" Reginald pumped his fist in victory. "Alright, lets increase moonbeam exposure by another 10%."

Ghoulia complied, opening the skylight slowly. The moonbeam shone brighter, causing the cart to more slightly faster.

"Ghoulia?" Frankie's voice cried out.

Ghoulia jolted in surprise, accidentally turning the dial all the way to 100%. The moonlight lit up the entire room, and the slow moving cart suddenly jolted into high speed.

"WHOOOAAAAAA!" Reginald shrieked as the cart careened forward. He frantically steered the cart around various crates and barrels, skidding uncontrollably around Ghoulia and nearly hitting Frankie, before it raced out of the front door. It was speeding away into the distance before Ghoulia closed the skylight.

Frankie stared slack jawed at the speeding cart as it vanished into the night. "Wh.. what was that?"

"That would be Professor Moonshroud's latest invention, solar panels that absorb moonlight instead of sunlight. He's hoping to create a cheap electric moonbeam powered car for night dwelling monsters to use." Ghoulia explained, Frankie understanding her zombie language perfectly. "There are still a few kinks to work out."

Frankie looked guilty. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. I can come by another time..."

"It's alright." Ghoulia smiled. "This isn't the first time one of Reggie's experiments has gone awry. He'll be fine. But I take it you came here to meet me?"

"Frankie nodded. "Yes... I've been working on something for a while, and I needed a second opinion."

"Is this a medical issue? That's not quite my expertise."

"Sort of... its more of a formula I've been working on on the side, for medical use."

"Taking after your father, huh?" Ghoulia said. Frankie's father had become a famous name among monster scientists for the scientific and medical discoveries he'd made while working as a doctor. It seemed Frankie was following in his footsteps.

"Not exactly..." Frankie pulled out a large folder full of papers. "This is a formula for a special serum I've been making. I wanted to know if there's anything I might have overlooked."

Ghoulia took the folder and began reading through it. As she scanned the various chemical formulations and biology notes, it dawned on her what this serum was for.

"This is... an aging formula?"

"Yes." Frankie leaned over Ghoulia's shoulder to point at some notes. "This formula is meant to stimulate cell division, as well as restrict the production of telomerase within the cells. As you may know, telomerase is an enzyme which the body can produce to lengthen the telomares, which can determine how long a being can live. Monsters like vampires,werewolves and zombies produce extraordinary amounts of telomerase, one of the reasons why they live so long. My parents put specially-made blood and bodily fluids into my veins which simulates the effects of telomerase when combined with electricity, just enough to keep me from rotting. I've been working backwards from there, trying to find a way to reverse the process and induce aging in the undead."

"I see..." Ghoulia groaned as she continued reading. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you making a serum to make monsters age?"

"Well..." Frankie hesitated for a moment. "I've had a few patients, vampires mostly, express an interest in ways of looking older. Since monsters and humans are becoming more integrated these days, they're worried that they might alienate or frighten people close to them because they don't age."

"Yes, than can be an issue. And plastic surgery isn't an option because their healing factor rejects any surgical attempts." Ghoulia noted

"So I thought I would take a crack at the problem, and came up with this." Frankie added. "I've already done some trials on lab rats and some old cadaver parts. I wanted to hear your opinion of the results."

Ghoulia carefully read the experiment notes. Sure enough, Frankie's test indicated this serum was reacting to bodily cells just as she described, and with seemingly no after effects. Still, a couple of things came to mind...

"Well Frankie, this serum seems to be working fine. I would probably conduct several more tests just to be certain, but it looks like you've cracked it."

Frankie sighed with relief. "Oh that's good to hear. I was worried I might have messed up somewhere."

"There are two things I've noticed though. One, all your tests were on human or undead remains. Wouldn't it make more sense to test it's effectiveness on vampire or werewolf remains? They are what this serum is for, right?"

"Oh right!" Frankie seemed surprised by that fact, but she quickly recovered. "I wanted to get the formula right on human flesh as a baseline before I start with the longer living creatures. I'll start tests tomorrow."

"My other query is.. how fast is this serum supposed to work? I noticed you've been giving the majority of your test subjects quite small doses."

"Yeah, big doses had some adverse effects over time, so I decided to stick to small doses so as not to cause damage to the cells. Why do you ask?"

"Well, if you're planning for people to use this long term, it's going to take a long time to take effect." Ghoula pointed to the notes. "Based on your measurements, I calculate that a person would need to take a dose of this serum every day for a year just to age.. well, a year."

"I see what you mean, but that sounds fine to me." Frankie replied, a slight smile on her face. "I wouldn't want to age too quickly, would you?"

"I guess so." Ghoulia shrugged, returning the notes. "Is there anything else to show me?"

"No no, that's it! Thank you Ghoulia, this is just what I needed!" Frankie hugged her friend. Ghoulia couldn't help but notice she seemed rather excited all of a sudden.

"I have to get home and do some more work on this, can I call you later?" Frankie asked.

"Of course. I'd love to see more of your results if I can spare the time." Ghoulia said.

"Great! Thank you so much again." Frankie said hurriedly. She jogged towards the exit, waving goodbye as she left.

Ghoulia waved back, a little puzzled by Frankie's sudden mood shift. She seemed a little too happy about her results..

Suddenly a loud screech caught her attention, and she turned to see the moon-powered golf cart had pulled in, with several dents on the bonnet and tree branches stuck to it. Professor Moonshroud stumbled out, holding a bag of Skrispy Skreme donuts.

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about mileage. I got to the Maul and back before the battery gave out. Want a donut?"

* * *

"..And that was the last time I saw her. She hadn't called me after that visit, though I was so busy with my own work, I hadn't really noticed. I just assumed she was finishing her own research." Ghoulia finished her story.

"I see..." Laura sighed. "Do you have any idea what she might be up to?"

"Not a clue. I thought she would have contacted our offices about her serum by now. Perhaps she's still performing tests."

"But why wouldn't she just tell us that? Why all this secrecy over an aging serum?"

"I don't know... but she seemed very happy with the advice I gave her. Whatever it is she's working on, its clearly important to her." Ghoulia replied. "If you see her, let me know if she's alright."

"Sure. Thanks Ghoulia." Laura hung up and rubbed her head. "Holy Bram Stoker, this is maddening! What the heck has Frankie gotten herself into?"

"I don't know, but there's only one way to find out. We've gotta ask the ghoul herself." Clawdeen got to her feet, and helped Laura to hers. "Come on, lets go to the hospital. We should be able to catch her there."

* * *

"Aw, she left just an hour ago." Duzer, the gorgon nurse Frankie worked with replied to Laura and Clawdeen's query. "She asked for a big shift change a while ago, she usually works the morning and afternoon shifts now."

"Drat!" Laura cursed. "And we really needed to talk to her."

"Whoa, is it something bad?" Duzer asked, concerned.

"We're not sure..." Clawdeen spoke. "Hey, you work with her. Have you noticed her doing anything... unusual lately?"

Duzer's eyes widened. "Oh yeah, she totally did something out of character a few weeks ago!"

"Wh.. what did she do?!"

"She booked some holiday time."

Clawdeen blinked. "That's it? What's so weird about that?"

"You don't get it." Duzer replied. "Apart from her mandatory days off, Doc Stein practically never takes time off. She really loves what she does here. She's practically the only doctor I've ever met who enjoys the thought of overtime."

She smirked. "Everyone from me to the guys in HR have been telling her to take it easy for a while with all that holiday time she's got clocked up, and it looks like she finally listened. She booked a whole month off."

"A month?!" Laura gasped. "She never told us that."

"Maybe she was going to surprise you." Duzer suggested.

"Did she say if she was going anywhere?" Clawdeen asked.

"Nah, she didn't mention anywhere particular. Maybe's she's just going to chill at home, work on that experiment of hers."

Laura and Clawdeen froze. "What experiment?"

"I don't know." Duzer shrugged. "All I know is that for the last few months she's been ordering a lot of equipment. These delivery guys would come in and tell her they've got some stuff for her, then she helps them put it in her car to take home later. She said it's for some kind of thesis she's working on or something..."

"What kind of equipment?" Laura asked.

"Medical stuff mostly. Things like surgical thread, tools, antibiotics, electrical cables, a surgery table... one time, she even got this huge ass bathtub thing. She had to take the afternoon off just to drive it home."

Clawdeen looked puzzled. "Did she say what kind of experiment?"

"She didn't say anything to me." Duzer made a check of her charts. "Sorry, but I gotta go check on the patients."

As she walked off, Clawdeen called to her. "One more thing. Did Frankie give the hospital some toys for the children's ward recently?"

"Toys? We ain't gotten any new toys for ages."

Duzer strode off, leaving Laura and Clawdeen more confused than ever.

"Okay... now I'm worried." Clawdeen spoke quietly.

* * *

As they drove away in Clawdeen's car, the two were silent as they mulled over what they had learned.

"Okay, I think I know what's going on." Laura spoke up. "Frankie's gotten into trouble with the Monster Mafia!"

Clawdeen looked at her sister-in-law with a deadpan look. "Seriously? That's your theory?"

"Think about it! All the medical equipment, the aging serum... maybe she's being forced to perform some sort of secret surgery for some big Mafia boss, like changing how they look so the police won't find them. And the month off is so she can flee the country!" Laura declared, holding up her hands dramatically.

"And the toys and the new bedroom? How do they fit in?"

"Er.. I think..." Laura fumbled, before throwing her hands up. "I don't know! Even I'm not that good of a writer to make sense out of all this."

"Well, we're gonna find out." Clawdeen sped the car up, frowning in determination. "We're gonna get Frankie to explain all this once and for all."

They drove into the residential area of Salem, onto Frankie's street, and were met with a bizarre sight as they approached her house.

"Why the hell does she have a huge metal rod stuck on her roof?"

* * *

Frankie hummed to herself as she connected the last few wires. This afternoon had gone quite smoothly. The antenna hadn't taken too long to assemble, most of the work had been leading the wires down into the basement. Everything was now set, all she needed to do was test to make sure everything worked properly.

She stepped back and admired the fruits of her labour. She still couldn't quite believe it had all come together so fast. It had started as a small idea, and now it was nearly real. All she had to do was flip the switch... and everything would change forever.

Of course, she would also need the appropriate weather. She picked up her diePad and checked the weather app, reading the forecasts for the next few weeks.

To her delight, she found that a heavy thunder storm would occur in just a few days. Perfect! She could have everything ready by then. She wouldn't have to wait to become...

She froze. Maybe she shouldn't rush this. After all, she still had to tell her parents. It didn't seem right to surprise them with this after the fact. But she was so close, and when would a storm like this occur again? She couldn't wait too long, or else her chance could be lost forever...

The sound of her doorbell shook her from her thoughts. Who could be calling at this time?

She took a last look at the basement before she rushed upstairs, locking the door behind her.

* * *

Frankie opened the door, surprised to see Clawdeen and Laura standing before her.

"Oh hey ghouls. What are you doing here?"

"We came to see you, of course." Clawdeen replied, an edge in her voice.

"Oh well.. I'm a little busy right now. Perhaps you could.. hey!" Frankie was pushed aside by Clawdeen, Laura following her in.

Frankie chased after her friends as they entered her living room and faced her, arms crossed. "What's going on?"

"We're here to hang out with you." Laura said firmly. "And we're not taking no for an answer."

Frankie sighed. "Look, I'd love to go out with you, but I have a lot of important work to do."

"Really? What kind of work?"

"Y.. you know. Just some medical stuff." Frankie spoke, a nervous look on her face. "It's very important. I can't really talk about it..."

"Oh cut the crap!" Clawdeen suddenly snapped. Frankie flinched at the anger in her face. "Since when the hell has something been so important that you can't talk to us about it?!"

"You've been ignoring us these past few months! And we don't know what you're doing, but it sure isn't related to your work!" Laura spoke, glaring.

"I.. I'm not.." Frankie stammered. "What do you mean?"

"We know about the aging serum, and all that medical equipment you've been buying. Not to mention all the other weird stuff we've noticed. What are you up to? Are you in trouble with the Monster Mafia?" Laura asked.

Clawdeen shot a look at Laura, then focused on Frankie again. "Seriously, what is going on? Please Frankie. We're worried about you. Whatever you've gotten into, we want to help."

"Yeah ghoul. You can tell us anything." Laura urged.

Frankie looked back and forth at her friends, nervously sweating as she tried to think of something to say. Finally, she let out a low moan of defeat.

"I'm sorry... I was afraid of what you would say if you knew..."

"Knew what?" Laura asked.

Frankie didn't reply at first. She sat down on the couch, looking down at her feet. Clawdeen and Laura sat next to her, sensing they needed to be close right now.

"Ghouls... have you ever felt... empty?" She spoke in a sad, quiet voice.

Laura looked sympathetic. "I felt that a little when Clawd and I first broke up."

"Then you know what it's like. That feeling that something went wrong and something is missing from your life, and now you can't ever take it back. I felt it after the school reunion."

"What happened?" Clawdeen edged closer.

"It was... when I looked at my old photo collection. I realized that everyone had changed in so many ways. They have families, children, exciting thing happening in their lives... and I don't have any of that."

She looked at her friend's concerned faces. "I mean.. Laura, you're having a baby. Abbey and Toralei already have families. Clawdeen, you've got a wonderful relationship going on. Cleo and Lagoona have all these amazing adventures in their work. And meanwhile, I've been working at the same job for years, and nothing has changed for me. Everyone seems to have something special... except me."

"But you love working at the hospital, don't you?" Clawdeen asked.

Frankie nodded. "I do.. I can't imagine doing anything else. But I've devoted every moment of my time these last few years working toward that goal. I've had to sacrifice so much... relationships, new experiences, family. I know I don't necessarily need those things, but when I see how happy everyone is with their lives, I want to have those things too. And I feel that for all my achievements, I've missed out on so much, and I'll never get the chance to have those things again."

Clawdeen felt her heart break as she looked at Frankie's sorrowful face. She wrapped her arm around her shoulders.

"This reminds me of our first year at Monster High. Remember how scared you were because you thought you would never be cool, or interesting or popular like everyone else? And in the end, everything turned out just fine."

She smiled. "Just because your life isn't exactly the same as everyone else's doesn't mean you've wasted it. It just means you took a different path. And it's a life you chose because you wanted to do something you love."

"And your life is pretty exciting. You get to experience all sorts of amazing things no one else could ever do." Laura added. "You save lives and help the whole community. I sit on my fat butt and write romance novels. You shouldn't compare your life with ours, they're all different. But that doesn't mean yours is any less fulfilling."

"I know.." Frankie sighed. "On some level, I do know that. But it's hard to remember sometimes, when you feel like you're in a rut and everyone else is so happy."

"So make yourself happy!" Laura said, leaning over and patting Frankie's shoulder encouragingly. "If you think something's missing in your life, you should go and change it. Do something new, find an awesome hobby, get out there and find yourself a hot date. I mean, look at Clawd. He changed from playing football to designing shoes, and he's never been happier. You should change something too."

Frankie wringed her hands nervously for a few moments. "Well... that's kind of the problem. I have tried to change something."

Laura blinked as she put two and two together. "You have... wait! Is that what all the secrecy's been about?"

Frankie nodded in response.

"Whoa... what are you trying to change?" Clawdeen asked.

"After that night at the reunion... I was feeling so lost. I thought I would never have the kind of happiness everyone else has." Frankie spoke. "And then, like a bolt of lightning, I had this... idea."

She rose to her feet, her voice and movements a little more animated as she spoke. "At first I thought it was a crazy idea. But the more I looked into it, the more I realized that I truly wanted it. So I decided to just go for it."

"So... what was the idea?" Clawdeen asked.

Frankie didn't seem to notice. "That's why I've been hiding away these last few months. I needed a lot of time alone to get this done, not to mention acquire everything I needed. And once I got into it, I just wanted to spend more and more time on it..."

"What did you do?" Clawdeen demanded.

Frankie continued rambling. "And I wanted to tell you ghouls, I really did. But I was so afraid that you might disapprove, or even try to stop me, and I wanted to do this so badly..."

"FRANKIE!" Clawdeen barked. "What the hell did you do already?! You're freaking me out here!"

Frankie calmed down. "You're right, sorry... you deserve to know. Just... just promise me that you won't overreact, or judge me too harshly."

Her friends nodded, and Frankie beckoned them to follow her deeper into the house. They came to a door locked with padlocks, which Frankie took several moments to open. The door led to a dark stairwell leading into the basement. Laura and Clawdeen followed Frankie down, their nerves tensing up with each step.

Finally, Frankie opened another door, leading to a brightly lit basement. Laura and Clawdeen followed her inside...

And nearly fell over in shock at the sight before them.

"Oh dear God..."

"N.. no way..."

The basement was a large room, its plain concrete walls immaculately clean and bare of decoration. Several tables lined the walls, each one covered with neatly arranged surgical tools. A whiteboard covered with medical drawings, a surgical table with a spotlight, and a few large electrical devices and tesla coils took up the remaining space.

But Laura and Clawdeen barely noticed these. Their attention was on the device in the center of the room.

It was a large cylindrical tank the size of an average coffin, made entirely from copper. It was bolted upright to the floor, it's upper end covered with cables which snaked up to and through the ceiling. A door with a large glass window was set into the front.

And inside the tank, floating inside a body of water and suspended by thin wires... was a little girl.

She looked about seven or eight years old. She wore a simple white towel wrapped around her body, which fluttered slightly in the weightlessness of the water. She had long black hair, floating in the water like a strange halo, which framed a soft, gentle face. With her eyes closed and her peaceful expression, she looked like a sleeping cherub.

But this girl was no cherub. And she was no human either. The mint green skin, the small bolts in her neck, and the delicately stitched up seams on her arms and legs were proof of that.

Laura and Clawdeen stared dumfounded as Frankie stood next to the copper tank. She still looked nervous, but there was a definite look of pride in her eyes as she glanced at the little girl within the device.

"Laura, Clawdeen, I'd like you to meet... my daughter."

END OF CHAPTER 3

* * *

Author Notes

1: DUN DUN DUUUN!

2: For those wondering about the non-Monster High characters I've referenced in past chapters:

Mr Francouer: A Monster in Paris

Duzer, Vinnie, Blanche, Frank.N Tyke: Gravedale High

Tanis, Phantasma: Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School

Alucarda Vein: Character from Graphix Fashion Monsters

Demitri Maximoff, Morrigan, Zabel Zarock: Darkstalkers


End file.
